Dr David I Hughes
- Senior Lecturer (Centre for Neuroscience)
telephone:
01413304577
email:
David.I.Hughes@glasgow.ac.uk
R122 Level 1, West Medical Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Further details about the Hughes Group can be found on our Website https://specciebear.wixsite.com/spinal-cord-hughes
Research interests
My research aims to improve our understanding of the complex neurocircuitry in the spinal dorsal horn, an area of critical importance in our ability to perceive the sensations of temperature, touch and pain. I use a combination of anatomical and electrophysiological approaches in both human and rodent tissue to identify individual cell populations and determine how their activity influences our ability to perceive different sensations. The main focus of my work is in collaboration with Dr Brett Graham (University of Newcastle, Australia. https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/brett-graham). We have identified populations of cells that are likely to influence how we perceive touch sensations and believe these play a critical role in the development of tactile allodynia and mechanical hyperalgesia. These studies help us gain insights into how our nervous system prioritises and processes sensory information and are aimed at developing improved treatments to manage chronic pain states.
Additional International Collaborations
- Prof Robert Callister, University of Newcastle, Australia
- Prof David Ginty, Harvard Medical School, USA
- Prof Safa Shehab, Al Ain University, UAE
- Prof Masahiko Watanabe, Hokkaido University, Japan
- Dr Toshiharu Yasaka, Saga University, Japan
- Prof Hanns Ulrich Zeilhofer, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Funding
Research in the Hughes laboratory is funded by the BBSRC, and the NHMRC (Australia), and the NC3Rs.
Selected Publications
- Abraira VE et al., (2017). The cellular and synaptic architecture of the mechanosensory dorsal horn. Cell 168, pp. 295-310. (doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.12.010)
- Smith KM, Boyle KA, Madden JF, Dickinson SA, Jobling P, Callister RJ, Hughes DI, and Graham BA. (2015). Functional heterogeneity of calretinin-expressing neurons in the mouse superficial dorsal horn: implications for spinal pain processing. J. Physiol., 593(19), pp. 4319-4339. (doi:10.1113/JP270855)
- Hughes DI, Sikander S, Kinnon CM, Boyle KA, Watanabe M, Callister RJ, and Graham BA. (2012). Morphological, neurochemical and electrophysiological features of parvalbumin-expressing cells: a likely source of axo-axonic inputs in the mouse spinal dorsal horn. J. Physiol., 590(16), pp. 3927-3951. (doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2012.235655)
- Yasaka T, Tiong SYX, Hughes DI, Riddell JS, and Todd AJ. (2010). Populations of inhibitory and excitatory interneurons in lamina II of the adult rat spinal dorsal horn revealed by a combined electrophysiological and anatomical approach. Pain, 151(2), pp. 475-488. (doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.08.008)
- Hughes DI, Scott DT, Riddell JS, and Todd AJ. (2007). Upregulation of substance P in low-threshold myelinated afferents is not required for tactile allodynia in the chronic constriction injury and spinal nerve ligation models. J. Neurosci., 27(8), pp. 2035-2044. (doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5401-06.2007)
- Hughes DI. et al. (2005). P-boutons in lamina IX of the rodent spinal cord express high levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 and originate from cells in deep medial dorsal horn. PNAS, 102(25), 102(25), pp. 9038-9043. (doi:10.1073/pnas.0503646102)
- Watson AHD, Hughes, DI, and Bazzaz AA. (2002). Synaptic relationships between hair follicle afferents and neurones expressing GABA and glycine-like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of the rat. J. Comp. Neurol., 452(4), pp. 367-380. (doi:10.1002/cne.10410)
Grants
Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.
- Spinal modulation of non-peptidergic C-nociceptor input by inhibitory calretinin neurons
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2023 - 2025
- Projection neuron axon collaterals in the dorsal horn: the missing link in spinal pain processing?
National Health and Medical Research Council
2020 - 2023
- Excitatory interneurons: a sensory amplifier for pathological pain
National Health and Medical Research Council
2018 - 2020
- Determining the role of calretinin-RorB spinal interneurons in modulating mechanical pain
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2017 - 2020
- Spinal processing of sensory signals from the gut
National Health and Medical Research Council
2014 - 2016
- CRACK IT Challenge 9: DRGNET: Enabling access to primary human dorsal root ganglion neurones for drug target identification and pharmacological experimentation
National Centre for the Replacement of Animals Research
2013 - 2014
- The role of presynaptic inhibition in neuropathic pain
National Health and Medical Research Council
2013 - 2015
- Development of peripheral sensory pathways in humans
National Health and Medical Research Council
2012 - 2016
- Modulating cutaneous afferent input: Identifying a source of presynaptic (axo-axonic) inputs in the mouse spinal dorsal horn
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2012 - 2015
Supervision
Supervised Postgraduate Students
- Wafa Abdulsalam Alsulaiman (Postgraduate)
- Fares Aboushnaf (Postgraduate)
Teaching
Teaching Administration
Degree Programme Coordination
Anatomy BSc Honours (Final Year): Coordinator 2010-2016, Deputy Coordinator 2009-2010, 2016 - present
Anatomy Junior Honours (Year 3): Coordinator 2009-2012, Deputy Coordinator 2012-2016
Anatomy Examinations Officer 2011-2016
Degree Course Coordination
Course leader: “Advanced Neuroanatomy” for BSc honours students; 2011 - present
Course leader: “Anatomy Advanced Studies” for BSc honours students in Anatomy; 2011 - 2016
Course leader: “Skills for the Modern Professional” for intercalating medical students; 2011 – 2016
Teaching: Delivery and Assessment
Undergraduate teaching
Year 3: Life Science courses in Anatomy, Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology.
Years 4 and 5: Human Biology courses in “Autonomic Nervous System”, “Developmental Neuroscience”, “Advanced Neuroanatomy”, and “Bio-imaging in Life Science”.
Professional courses
Year 1: Medical students (MBChB1): Limbs and Back course
Year 1: Dental students (BDS1): Biological and Medical Sciences
Year 2: Medical students (MBChB2): Head, Neck and Neurological Systems
Postgraduate teaching
MSc Brain Sciences
MSc Biomedical Sciences
MSc BioImaging
MSc in vitro and Analytical Approaches in Neuroscience
Summer School: in vivo skills in Neuroscience
Student Mentoring and Supervision
Advisor of Studies, School of Life Sciences: 2012 – present
Research mentor to postdoctoral researchers: 2012 - present
I supervise at least four undergraduate (BSc honours) project students each academic year, and up to three postgraduate (Masters) students from the Brain Sciences or Biomedical Sciences courses. I also supervise summer projects.
PhD Students
Marami Binti Mustapa
Andrew Bell
Additional information
Invited International Presentations
- 2016: Yokohama, Japan - IASP Workshop Organiser: Inhibitory Interneurons in the Spinal Dorsal Horn: Recent Advances
- 2016: Yokohama, Japan - Invited Speaker; IASP’s 16th World Congress on Pain
- 2016: Taormina, Sicily, Italy - Invited Speaker; Pain Mechanisms and Therapeutics Conference
- 2015: Queen Mary University of London - Invited Speaker; Neurogastroenterology Group, Queen Mary University of London
- 2015: Janelia Research Campus, USA - Invited Speaker; 'Mammalian Circuits Underlying Somatosensation', Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, USA.
- 2013: Galway, Ireland - Invited Speaker; Centre for Pain Research, School of Medicine, NUI Galway
- 2012: Milan, Italy - IASP Workshop Co-organiser: Dissecting interneuron diversity on the spinal dorsal horn using transgenic mice
- 2012: Melbourne, Australia - Invited Speaker; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne
- 2012: Sydney, Australia - Invited Speaker; Sensory Neuroscience Symposium, University of Western Sydney
- 2012: Milan, Italy - Invited Speaker; IASP's 14th World Congress of Pain
- 2010: Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia - Invited Speaker; School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle
- 2010: Glasgow, Scotland - Invited Speaker; Scottish Neuroscience Meeting, University of Strathclyde
Professional Learned Society
- 2017 - present: Frontiers in Neural Circuits - Review Editor
- 2015 - present: Frontiers in Neuropharmacology - Review Editor
- 2015 - present: Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland - Fellow
- 2015 - present: Athena SWAN Institute SAT member
- 2015 - present: Neuropharmacology - Review Editor
- 2014 - present: STEMM Ambassador
- 2008 - present: Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland - Member
- 2008 - present: International Association for the Study of Pain - Member
- 1998 - present: Society for Neuroscience - Member