David Sattelle MA, PhD, ScD - Curriculum Vitae#

BA 1967, MA 1970, PhD 1971, ScD 1980 (Cambridge)

CURRENT POST
2013 - Professor of Molecular Neurobiology, University College, London.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My overall research goal is to increase our knowledge of the molecular basis of chemical signalling at synapses between nerve cells and at nerve-muscle junctions in health and disease.

I have developed and deployed C. elegans models of neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders. These include models for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), fronto-temporal dementia (FTD/ALS), inclusion body myositis (IBM), congenital myasthenia syndromes (CMS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with the aim of providing new insights into disease mechanism and new routes to therapy. We have developed automated phenotyping methods facilitating (a) chemical screening for new and re-profiled drug candidates and (b) genetic screening for modifiers that may offer new drug targets. My work addresses the world’s most costly age-related disease, AD, as well as unmet therapeutic deficits of rarer diseases.

I have also studied ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs), their functions and their roles in disease. Members of this superfamily are targets for human and animal health drugs and crop protection chemicals. Gene families of LGICs in man, other vertebrates and a wealth of invertebrates including genetic model organisms (Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster) as well as invertebrates of major economic importance (disease vectors, pests and beneficial species) have been investigated. This work contributes to the understanding of these ion channels and the development of new, safer drugs and chemicals.

PUBLICATIONS

327 papers have been published.
6 books have been published (1 single author; 1 co-authored; 4 edited)
144 sequence submissions to databases have been generated.

RECENT Nature, Science and PLOS Biology papers

Nature (2006) 443: 931-949 (Cover); Nature (2008) 452, 949-955; Science (2010) 327, 343-348; PLOS Biol. (2010) 8, e1000313 (Cover).