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Sam Hughes

Sam Hughes

Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience, University of Exeter

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Profile | University of Exeter Medical School | University of Exeter

My research is focused on understanding the modulation of experimentally induced and clinical pain states by endogenous analgesic systems in the central nervous system. I use this information to help guide the development of new and mechanism-driven therapies for chronic pain. 

I have a BSc in Pharmacology (1st class) from University College London and a PhD in Systems Neuroscience from the University of Bristol. During my PhD, I researched descending noradrenergic control systems during neuropathic pain in the labs of Prof Tony Pickering and Prof Bridget Lumb.

After my PhD, I moved to Imperial College London, where I spent four years using non-invasive brain stimulation techniques in sciatica patients and in human pain models in Dr Paul Strutton’s lab. I then moved to Kings College London to start a research fellowship (Kings Prize/Anthony Mellow Award) investigating the effects of non-invasive deep brain stimulation on the sensitisation of central nociceptive pathways with Dr Matthew Howard. 

In 2020 I joined the University of Plymouth as a Lecturer and started the Pain Modulation Lab at the Brain Research and Imaging Centre (BRIC). In 2022, I joined the University of Exeter as a Senior Lecturer in Pain Neuroscience.