Neurosciences Seminar - David Bennett, MD, PhD

Neurosciences Seminar
Thursday, April 23, 2026
12:30 PM, Online Only via Zoom

David Bennett, MD, PhD
Professor, Neurology and Neurobiology,
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK

Host: Dr. Richard Zigmond

Lecture Title: "Using human genomics to identify new molecular targets for chronic pain."

Abstract: Combining modern genomics with detailed clinical phenotyping is providing new information as to how pain perception arises in humans. We are seeing alignment between the physiology of pain circuits and these new genetic findings. I will describe both rare extreme Mendelian pain disorders such as voltage gated sodium channelopathies and also the complex genetics of more common acquired pain disorders. This will include our recent findings identifying the pain gene SLC45A4 and demonstrating that this is the long sought neuronal polyamine transporter potentially regulating nociceptor excitability providing new avenues for pain treatment.

Publications:
Middleton, S. J., et al. (2025). SLC45A4 is a pain gene encoding a neuronal polyamine transporter. Nature, 646(8084), 404–412. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09326-y

Themistocleous, A. C., et al. (2023). Investigating genotype–phenotype relationship of extreme neuropathic pain disorders in a UK national cohort. Brain Communications, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcad037


Seminar Format
• Introduction by the host
• Presentation (approx. 45-50 min.)
Questions during the presentation are at the individual speaker’s discretion.
• 10-15 minutes of Q&A
We encourage students to ask the first questions.


Attendee Information
Free and open to the public. Seminars are not recorded.
Livestream will be available via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person.

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