Staff Profile

Roles

Dean of Academic affairs NUMed

Director of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (DELT) NUMed

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Neuroscience, University of Sheffield

PhD King's College, University of London

Professional Graduate Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PGDTLLS), University of Derby

MEd (Open), The Open University

Membership of Societies

Member British Neuroscience Association (BNA)

Member Malaysian Society of Neuroscience

Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

MBBS Medical Degree Years 1 and 2

I teach in multiple areas in the pre-clinical years on the MBBS degree programme.  The main areas are basic neurobiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.

Research Projects

My research now mainly focuses around Medical Education, particularly exploring the use of neuroscientific knowledge of learning and applying this to teaching.  Current Research projects include:

The understanding, use, and prevalence of neuromyths in South East Asian educators and students. 

Neuroeducation, or the application of neuroscience research to inform educational policy and teaching techniques, is an emerging field of research.  Unfortunately, within neuroeducation are a number of neuromyths that have become prevalent in teaching practice.  Neuromyths are incorrect ideas about how the brain works with regards to learning and teaching.  Examples include the existence of learning styles such as the visual-auditory-kinaesthetic (VAK) learning styles, or the right brain/left brain logical/creativity myth.  Many of these myths are taught in teacher training and so have become prevalent throughout education.

Most studies looking at the use, prevalence, and perception of these neuromyths amongst educators and students have been focused on western countries and school age students and educators. The aim of the project is to establish the thoughts, perceptions and understanding of different neuromyths present in educators, and students entering a higher education teaching environment in South East Asia with a view to future interventional strategies.

The effects of integrative study support on the type and complexity of student study skills techniques

Effective study techniques have been shown to improve student achievement and wellbeing at university.  Study techniques that are active in their approach and multimodal encourage deeper and stronger learning and better align to current understanding of the way the brain learns.   

The aim of the project is to evaluate student study skills abilities and to see if integrative study skills support in the form of active teaching, online material or one-to-one support influences learning techniques, and encourages students to take a more active , multimodal and self-directed approach to their learning.

Evaluating the Feasibility of, and exploring opportunities for, embedding transnational cross-campus teaching in the MBBS curriculum.

Since the move to a blended approach to teaching, the MBBS teams in the UK and at the NUMed (Malaysia) branch campus have been working closely to develop both synchronous and asynchronous online teaching resources. This has been possible due to the equivalence of the MBBS degree courses across the two campuses.  

Funding

• Guilding C, Li Zhi PK, Mohana Krishnan S, Hubbard PS, McKeegan KS. Insights into Delivering Cross-Cultural Medical Education in the UK and Malaysia. Medical Science Educator 2021, 31, 2177-2188.
• Yates S, Zafar A, Hubbard P, Nagy S, Durant S, Bicknell R, Wilcock G, Christie S, Esiri MM, Smith AD, Nagy Z. Dysfunction of the mTOR pathway is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2013, 1, 3.
• Hamilton N, Hubbard PS, Butt AM. Effects of glutamate receptor activation on NG2-glia in the rat optic nerve. Journal of Anatomy 2009, 214(2), 208-218.
• Nagy Z, Hubbard PS. Neuropathology. In: Jacoby, R. Oppenheimer, C., Dening, T., Thomas, A, ed. Oxford textbook of old age psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp.67-84.
• Hubbard PS, Esiri MM, Reading M, McShane R, Nagy Z. Alpha-synuclein pathology in the olfactory pathways of dementia patients. J Anat 2007, 211(1), 117-124.
• Butt AM, Hamilton N, Hubbard P, Pugh M, Ibrahim M. Synantocytes: the fifth element. J Anat 2005, 207(6), 695-706.
• Butt AM, Pugh M, Hubbard P, James G. Functions of optic nerve glia: axoglial signalling in physiology and pathology. Eye 2004, 18(11), 1110-1121.
• Berry M, Hubbard P, Butt AM. Cytology and lineage of NG2-positive glia. Journal of Neurocytology 2002, 31(6-7), 457-467.
• Butt AM, Kiff J, Hubbard P, Berry M. Synantocytes: new functions for novel NG2 expressing glia. Journal of Neurocytology 2002, 31(6-7), 551-565.
• Hubbard P, Berry M, Butt AM. NG2 glia (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells) in the adult rat spinal cord. In: The Summer Meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 2001, University College Dublin: Journal of Anatomy.