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Richard Hulse

Richard Hulse

Associate Professor

School of Science & Technology

Staff Group(s)
Bioscience

Role

Dr Richard Hulse is a sensory neurophysiologist whom investigates how the sensory nervous system regulates pain perception in health and disease. He contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching across neuroscience, physiology and pharmacology.

Career overview

Dr Hulse completed his PhD (2009) in the Pain Research Group at the University of Bristol. He investigated how sensory nerves can become activated following injury or disease. When sensory neurons are turned on this typically leads to pain and underlies how long lasting pain can develop in patients. This can occur in those patients who have cancer, diabetic, treated with chemotherapy or have arthritis, areas of pain research Dr Hulse explored as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol and University of Nottingham,

Research areas

Pain is usually a short lasting but uncomfortable experience that is controlled by the sensory nervous system to protect us from potential harm. However, in chronic (long lasting) pain these systems go wrong ultimately leading to abnormal sensory complications such as prolonged and exacerbated pain. Pain is a unique experience to every organism, influenced by emotional experiences, treatment and/or disease. Neurons (peripheral and central nervous systems) are the epicentre of the pain signal, processing incoming sensory information, though work in harmony with an array of functionally distinct physiological systems (such as vascular and immune systems) to control our pain perception. This ultimately goes wrong in chronic pain states. We aim to understand these sensory neurophysiological systems to allow us to decipher alterations that cause pain.

Opportunities arise to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil / PhD. Further information maybe obtained on the NTU Research Degrees website https://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/research-degrees-at-ntu. or visit findaphd.com.

Any queries please email Dr Richard Hulse.

External activity

We are grateful to our funders for their continued support of our work.

  • Medical Research Foundation - Elucidation of new immunomodulatory pain pathways in young adults with long-term sensory neuronal activation after juvenile cancer treatment. (2024 - 2026)
  • BBSRC Alert 2023 - East Midlands Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy Facility for the Evaluation of Complex Biological Applications (2024)
  • BBSRC Alert 2022 - A brighter future cutting-edge multiphoton imaging at Nottingham. (2023)
  • Society for Endocrinology - Angiotensinogen mediated astrocyte disruption of dorsal horn blood flow. (awarded to Dr Lydia Hardowar 2023 – 2024).
  • The Royal Society. Determination of the sensory and affective components of hypoxia induced chronic pain. (2022 - 2023)
  • Diabetes UK. Functional significance of hypoxia activated dorsal horn sensory neurons in the maintenance and permanence of type 2 diabetic neuropathic pain. (PI  2021- 2022)
  • Diabetes Wellness and Research Foundation. Functional significance of HIF1α activated dorsal horn sensory neurons in the manifestation of type 2 diabetic neuropathic pain. (PI 2021 - 2022)
  • EFSD/Boehringer Ingelheim European Research Programme in Microvascular Complications of Diabetes. Pericyte mediated reduction in spinal cord blood flow in diabetic neuropathic pain. (2019 - 2022)
  • The Rosetrees Trust.  Finding the link between how diabetes damages blood vessels in the spinal cord and long-lasting pain – a new route to new treatments for diabetic neuropathic pain. (2017 - 2019)
  • European Research Programme in Microvascular Complications of Diabetes supported by Novartis Determining the link between diabetic vasculopathy and spinal cord neuron dysfunction. (2015 - 2018)

Publications

See all of Richard Hulse's publications...