Dr Alex Clark, PhD, FHEASenior Lecturer in NeuroscienceEmail: alex.j.clark@qmul.ac.ukWebsite: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-clark-6018b955/ProfileTeachingResearchPublicationsSupervisionProfileDr Alex Clark is a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience. He undertook a PhD at University College London where he established a novel microfluidic culture platform to study the excitability of axons in isolation. In 2012, he joined Prof. David Bennett’s lab at University of Oxford as a post-doc where he studied inherited pain conditions using induced pluripotent stem cells. He became an independent Research Fellow in 2019, and focused on understanding the pathophysiology of Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy type 1. In 2022 he joined Queen Mary as a Lecturer in Neuroscience, and in 2024 was promoted to Senior Lecturer. LinkedIn profileTeachingICMM930 – Chronic Pain and Epilepsy – Module leadBMD361 – Repair and Regeneration in the Nervous System - Module leadSNU307 – Developmental Biology and Cell Signaling - Module leadResearchResearch Interests:Pain arises as a direct consequence of injury or disease to the somatosensory system. There are many causes of pain and sometimes this results in neuropathic pain which can last many months to years or even a whole lifetime. I am particularly interested in researching inherited pain conditions; these are often highly debilitating and have a profound impact on the quality of life. I specialise in differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to sensory neurons to model and study these conditions. These are a fantastic opportunity to study human neurons in culture and by doing so we can interrogate potential disease mechanisms. I have been successful in developing the first ever myelinating coculture of human iPSC-derived neurons with rodent Schwann cells which we used to study a demyelinating neuropathy. This coculture platform is now being used as a diagnostic screening tool. More recently I led a large investigative project to study the pathophysiology of Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy type 1, where we uncovered a previously unknown cause for this disease. iPSCs are an incredibly powerful tool for researchers to study disease and it is my intention to use both iPSC and in vivo models to continue researching painful conditions.Publications Co-cultures with stem cell-derived human sensory neurons reveal regulators of peripheral myelinationClark AJ, Kaller MS, Galino J, Willison HJ, Rinaldi S, Bennett DLBrain 140 (4), 898-913 An iPSC model of hereditary sensory neuropathy-1 reveals L-serine-responsive deficits in neuronal ganglioside composition and axoglial interactionsAJ Clark, U Kugathasan, G Baskozos, DA Priestman, N Fugger, MA Lone, ...Cell Reports Medicine 2 (7) Functional imaging in microfluidic chambers reveals sensory neuron sensitivity is differentially regulated between neuronal regionsAJ Clark, G Menendez, M AlQatari, N Patel, E Arstad, G Schiavo, ...Pain 159 (7), 1413-1425 Establishing myelinating cocultures using human iPSC-derived sensory neurons to investigate axonal degeneration and demyelinationAJ ClarkAxon Degeneration: Methods and Protocols, 111-129 The role of voltage-gated sodium channels in pain signalingDL Bennett, AJ Clark, J Huang, SG Waxman, SD Dib-HajjPhysiological reviews 99 (2), 1079-1151 Using an engineered glutamate-gated chloride channel to silence sensory neurons and treat neuropathic pain at the sourceGA Weir, SJ Middleton, AJ Clark, T Daniel, N Khovanov, SB McMahon, ... Brain 140 (10), 2570-2585 Cellular and axonal transport phenotypes due to the C9ORF72 HRE in iPSC motor and sensory neurons. Scaber J, Thomas-Wright I, Clark AJ, Xu Y, Vahsen BF, Carcolé M, Dafinca R, Farrimond L, Isaacs AM, Bennett DL, Talbot K. Stem Cell Reports. 2024 Jul 9;19(7):957-972. Advances and challenges in modeling inherited peripheral neuropathies using iPSCs. Van Lent J,….. Clark AJ, Bennett DL, Van Den Bosch L, Saporta M, Timmerman V. Exp Mol Med. 2024 Jun;56(6):1348-1364. SupervisionPostdoctoral researchers Dr Rachael Wilson (LinkedIn) Dr Wilson is working to uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to painful diabetic neuropathy. She is using iPSC-derived neuronal models to study this debilitating disease. She has previously worked on modelling human genetic obesity by using iPSC-derived hypothalamic neuronal models. This included reprogramming somatic cells from Prader-Willi patients (the most prevalent obesity syndrome) and de novo crispr-cas9 genome editing of hESCs. PhD students Kira Werder – Joint primary supervisor