Professor David J. Adams
Professor and Chair of Physiology
Research focus
Brief history
Selected publications
Professional associations
Funded projects
Student projects available
Contact details
Research focus
The primary areas of research interest in the laboratory of Professor David Adams are in neuroscience and membrane physiology using electrophysiological, molecular biological and single cell microflurometric techniques to study membrane receptors and ionic channels and calcium signalling.
Research in the laboratory focuses on: [1] the expression, function and modulation of native receptors and ionic channels in sensory neurons, and [2] the molecular mechanisms of action of neurotoxins on cloned receptors and ion channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes.
Specifically, the laboratory investigates conotoxins that selectively modulate receptor and ion channel function and the ionic mechanisms underlying neuronal excitability in sensory neurons using patch clamp recording techniques.
Brief history
Professor Adams was awarded a BSc (Hons I) in 1974 and a PhD in Physiology from University of NSW in 1979 followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Washington, Seattle (MDA Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1978-1980), MBL, Woods Hole (Grass Fellowship in Neurophysiology, 1980) and University College London (Beit Memorial Fellowship, 1981-1983). He was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL USA in 1984, promoted to Associate Professor (tenured) in 1989 and to Professor in 1993 before returning to Australia in 1995 to take up the Chair of Physiology at the University of Queensland.
Professor Adams was appointed Head of Department of Physiology & Pharmacology in 1998 and Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences in 2000. He is currently President of the Australian Physiological Society (AuPS) and a member of the National Committee for Biomedical Sciences, Australian Academy of Science.
Selected publications [
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Walker, T.L., Yasuda, T., Adams, D.J. and Bartlett, P.F. (2007). The Doublecortin-expressing population in the developing and adult brain contains multipotential precursors in addition to neuronal-lineage cells. Journal of Neuroscience 27, 3734-3742.
Ekberg, J., Schuetz, F., Boase, N.A., Conroy, S-J., Manning, J., Kumar, S., Poronnik, P. and Adams, D.J. (2007). Regulation of the voltage-gated K+ channels KCNQ2/3 and KCNQ3/5 by ubiquitination: Novel role for Nedd4-2. Journal of Biological Chemistry 282, 12135-12142.
Kloda, A., Lua, L., Hall, R., Adams, D.J. and Martinac, B. (2007). Liposome reconstitution and modulation of recombinant N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor channels by membrane stretch. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104, 1540-1545
Motin, L., Yasuda, T., Schroeder, C.I., Lewis, R.J. and Adams, D.J. (2007). w-Conotoxin CVIB differentially inhibits native and recombinant N- and P/Q-type calcium channels. European Journal of Neuroscience 25, 435-444.
Ekberg, J., Jayamanne, A., Vaughan, C.W., Aslan, S., Thomas, L., Mould, J., Drinkwater, R., Baker, M.D., Abrahamsen, B., Wood, J.N., Adams, D.J., Christie, M.J. and Lewis, R.J. (2006). O-conotoxin MrVIB selectively blocks NaV1.8 sensory neuron specific sodium channels and chronic pain behaviour without motor deficits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 103, 17030-17035.
Professional associations
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Australian Physiological Society (AuPS)
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Physiological Society, U.K.
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Biophysical Society, USA
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American Physiological Society
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Society for Neuroscience, USA
Funded projects
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Alpha-conotoxins: Selective probes for nicotinic receptor subtype structure and function (ARC, 2007-2009, $990,000)
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Dissecting pain pathways with conopeptides(NHMRC, 2005-2009, $7.16 million)
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Functional maturation of adult neural progenitor cells(NHMRC, 2008-2010, $594,000)
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New modulators of voltage-gated sodium channel subtypes from Australian Tarantula venoms (ARC Linkage, 2008-2010, $485,000)
Student projects available
- Discovery of conotoxins as selective probes of ion channel function in nociception
Student Level: PhD Start Year: 2008 Sem Available: 1
- The role of membrane receptors and ion channels in the functional maturation of adult neural precursor cells
Student Level: PhD Start Year: 2008 Sem Available: 1
Contact details
Email: dadams@uq.edu.au
Tel:(07) 3346 6434
Int: +61 7 3346 6434
Fax: (07) 3346 6394
Int fax: +61 7 3346 6304
