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.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

Contact information


steven.middleton@ndcn.ox.ac.uk

Social media

Research groups

Websites

Steven Middleton

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

  • Research Fellow, Wolfson College

Biography

I received my BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience from Cardiff University, my research focused on the peripheral nervous system and sensory neuron development with Professor Alun Davies. I completed a research training year at the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, in Berlin. I worked under the supervision of Professor Gary Lewin studing mechanisms of touch sensation. My doctoral training was completed at the University of Oxford. My Wellcome Trust DPhil Studentship investigated the role of Ion Channels in Health & Disease (OXION) with a focus on chronic pain. During my DPhil I received training from the Neural Injury Group (Oxford), the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine (Berlin) and the University of New England (Maine, US). 

I am currently a senior post-doctoral research scientist in the Neural Injury Research Group led by Professor David Bennett, and Research Fellow at Wolfson College.

Research Summary

My research focuses on the neurobiology of pain and touch sensation. In particular, my work interrogates the functional role of different populations of sensory neurons. Sensory neurons are heterogeneous nerve cells that innervate sensory targets such as the skin, and extend central terminals which enter the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. I study this sensory circuit and aim to understand the mechanisms that govern normal (protective) touch and pain, and how following injury or disease pain can become chronic (neuropathic pain).

My research has two avenues;

  • I use non-native designer ion channels and pre-clinical genetic models to target and silence sensory function in healthy and chronic pain conditions. These designer ion channels function as an off-switch in pain transmission. My research aims to identify which population(s) of sensory neurons are critical for driving neuropathic pain, and to identify novel, druggable, targets in these key populations. In addition, I am developing these tools as innovative gene therapies that can silence abnormal activity in human IPSC derived sensory neurons, as a means to treat chronic pain.
  • I am interested in how native ion channels and membrane transporters function in the sensory nervous system (such as Nav1.7, NCX3, SLC45A4), particularly in nociception and chronic pain. Understanding the role of native ion channels and transporters may offer new opportiunities to develop novel therapeutics for chronic pain.

To investigate these questions my research uses a wide range techniques including: Histology, molecular biology, viral construct design, chemogenetic silencing, patch-clamp electrophysiology and skin-nerve primary afferent recordings.

Key publications

Recent publications

More publications