Research groups
Professor of Oncology, University of
Nottingham, 2013-
Head of Cancer Biology, Division
of Cancer and Stem Cells 2013-
Director of the Centre for Cancer Sciences, University
of Nottingham 2018-
Director of Research, School of Medicine, University
of Nottingham 2018-
Head of Cancer
Research Priority Area, University of Nottingham,
2015-
Chief Scientific Officer, Exonate
Ltd, 2013-
I completed my PhD in 1992 at the University of
London, on how and why patients treated for breast
cancer develop swollen arms (lymphoedema). After a
year learning molecular genetics of fruit flies at
Glasgow University, I spent three years at the
University of California at Davis, where I learned and
extended a technique to measure how proteins and fluid
move across the walls of individual capillaries, by
putting tiny glass needles into the smallest blood
vessels of the body. At this point I started
investigating a new protein called VEGF - or vascular
endothelial growth factor. I continued as a lecturer
at the University of Leicester from 1996-1998, using
novel chemicals, that were part of the process of
developing new drugs now used as anti-cancer agents. I
developed methods to investigate how VEGF works to
cause blood vessels to grow, and moved to the
University of Bristol as a British Heart Foundation
(BHF) research fellow in the Department of Physiology
in 1999.
In 2001 I was awarded a prestigious BHF Lectureship,
and established the Microvascular Research
Laboratories. In that year I discovered a new class of
VEGF molecules. I was appointed Professor of
Microvascular Biology and Medicine in the Department
of Physiology and Pharmacology in 2007, where I was
responsible for a MSci in Physiology with a year in
Industry and the second year BSc Physiology course for
120 undergraduate students per year. My laboratory has
discovered how new VEGFs contribute to blindness,
diabetes, cancer, lung and heart disease and other
conditions, resulting in 10 patent applications and
>140 peer reviewed papers in both scientific
(Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell etc), and medical
journals (Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research,
Nature Reviews Cancer, etc).
In 2013 I was appointed Chair of Division of
Preclinical Oncology at the University of Nottingham,
and founded Exonate Ltd with Prof Steve Harper, Dr
Lucy Donaldson and Dr Jonathan Morris, based on our
discovery of new potential drugs for eye disease
cancer and other conditions. My lab now investigates
the therapeutic potential of VEGF-splice variants and
their control in eye disease, cancer, diabetes,
pregnancy, lung and kidney disease. My research also
encompasses wider areas of vascular permeability,
angiogenesis and arteriogenesis, regulation of kidney
function and chemokine induced lymphatic metastasis.
My work, supported by Research Councils UK, Wellcome
Trust, BHF, Diabetes UK and other charities. has been
cited over 8000 times, and attracted over £14M in
direct research funding. I currently am Head of Cancer
Biology, the lead for the University Cancer Research
Priority Area, and am Deputy Head of Division of
Cancer and Stem Cells at the University of Nottingham,
Professor Extraordinaire at the University of South
Africa, Pretoria, scientific adviser to the South
African Medical Research Council, Chair of the Finnish
Academy of Sciences Cancer panel, and Chief Scientific
Officer and Founder of Exonate Ltd.
Outside work, I'm a keen skier - both Alpine and Ski
touring, which is where my Couloirjunkie moniker comes
from.
I am also a keen wine taster and explorer of all
things oenological.
Coulorjunkie's
Skiing pages
Dave's Wine pages