Neuropathic pain (NP) affects about 8% of the people in the Western World and the commonest cause is diabetes mellitus. NP places an enormous emotional and financial burden on patients, carers and society. Very few NP patients obtain complete pain relief with the currently available drugs and more effective long-term therapies are urgently required. My basic-science and clinical research is focused on better understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of NP.

Over the last 20 years my group has identified and validated the second galanin receptor (GalR2) as a novel treatment for NP. I am now translating these findings into pre-clinical drug development for neuropathic pain by developing novel GalR2-specific ligands with the longer-term aim of taking ligands into proof-of-concept clinical studies for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN).

My clinical research is based on the regional PDN out-patient service I setup and run (2009-present). I see patients with complex severe refractory PDN from across the SW of England.