Staff Profile

I came to Newcastle University from Husson University where for the last 6 years I taught Pharmacy students about physiology and pharmacology. Before that I was in the Department of Anethesiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

For many years my research has been focused on the mechanisms of synaptic transmission at both pre- and postsynaptic loci. My older work was initially focused on the fusion pore - the poorly understood intermediate that mediates release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicle into the synaptic cleft. This is influenced by many factors including lipid and cytoskeletal components. From there it was a small step to become interested in the pharmacology of synaptic release events, as this is an area of high relevance to medical research which remains somewhat understudied.

I teach in the Essentials of Medical Practice component of the MBBS and accelerated A101 medical courses, focusing on physiology and pharmacology.