Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Maddalena Comini

Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Stipendiary Lecturer, Junior Research Fellow

After completing my PhD in cellular biophysics at the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centre (Fz Jülich), I joined the lab of Prof. David Bennett at NDCN (Oxford), where I study the role of VGSC Nav1.7 and calcium-permeable TRPA1 in painful channelopathies. To pursue my research, I employ a multi-disciplinary approach, involving electrophysiological (patch clamp and MEA multi-electrode arrays) and molecular biology techniques. My aim is to get a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying pain perception and sensitivity, in a variety of in vitro cellular models (HEK293T cells, mouse DRG and human iPSC-d sensory neurons), to finally identify novel therapeutic targets.

I am a Junior Research Fellow (Non Stipendiary) at St Catherine's College (University of Oxford), where I am employed as Stipendiary Lecturer in Neurophysiology and Experimental Psychology and Graduate College Adviser. In addition, I am a Tutor at Somerville College (University of Oxford), where I teach Neurophysiology to 1st year Experimental Psychology undergraduates.

I like to engage in social and fundraising activities, and I co-chair the Clinical Neurosciences Society at NDCN, which aims at creating an inclusive environment, and bringing people together in the departmnet, across multiple divisions.

Finally, I try and promote science and physiology-related research as Representative at NDCN for the Physiological Society UK, an international community which brings together scientists from a multicultural and diverse background