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The William Harvey Research Institute - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Professor Nick Goulding

Nick

Professor of Pharmacology & Medical Education

Centre: Biochemical Pharmacology

Email: n.j.goulding@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0) 20 7882 2118

Profile

Nick Goulding graduated from the University of Southampton with a BSc (Hons) in Physiology and Biochemistry in 1978 and a PhD in Immunopathology in 1982. He spent 10 years at the Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases as senior research fellow and Lecturer before moving to St Bartholomew’s Medical College in 1992 as Senior Lecturer. He became Reader in Cellular Pharmacology in 2001 and Professor of Pharmacology and Medical Education in 2004. In December 2009 he was elected Vice-President of the British Pharmacological Society with special responsibility for academic development. In 2016 he was awarded a Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.  As Head of Student Academic and Pastoral Support for the Medical School, Nick is responsible for co-ordinating the support to almost 2000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is also an ordained priest in the Church of England and has interests in the interface between Science and Faith.

Research

Group members
Research staff: Dr Guglielmo Rosignoli

Summary

The mechanism of action of glucocorticoids in inflammatory diseases
Professor Goulding’s research interests lie in the area of glucocorticoid biology, with particular reference to the use of glucocorticosteroids in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Nick also co-directs the newly formed Core Cytometry Facility with the Institute of Cancer.

His research group has recently received funding from the Arthritis Research Campaign, the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, and the William Harvey Research Foundation.

Specific areas of research interest include the role of glucocorticoids in the haemoglobin scavenger receptor CD163 mediated clearance of iron from inflamed sites, the non-genomic action of glucocorticoids in mediating rapid effects on immune function and the impact of annexin I deficiency /dysfunction on the development of chronic inflammatory disease. Prof Goulding also has interests in the ethics of medical research with a particular focus on the use of embryo-derived stem cells as therapeutics.

Ethics of Human Embryo Research
The ethical, legal and social implications of the use of human embryos in medical research are complex and far-reaching. Professor Goulding leads a Halley-Stewart Trust-funded project to generate and assess the impact of novel educational materials for UK medical students in this rapidly developing area of medicine. The programme is now available online.

Key Publications

Full list of publications

  1. Spurr L, Nadkarni S, Pederzoli-Ribeil M, Goulding NJ, Perretti M, D'Acquisto F.  Comparative analysis of Annexin A1-formyl peptide receptor 2/ALX expression in human leukocyte subsets. Int Immunopharmacol. 2011 Jan;11(1):55-66.
  2. Yazid S, Solito E, Christian H, McArthur S, Goulding NJ, Flower RJ. Cromoglycate drugs suppress eicosanoid generation in U937 cells by promoting the release of Anx-A1.  Biochem Pharmacol. 2009 Jun 15;77(12):1814-26.
  3. Fairhurst AM, Wallace PK, Jawad AS, Goulding NJ. Rheumatoid peripheral blood phagocytes are primed for activation but have impaired Fc-mediated generation of reactive oxygen species. Arthritis Res Ther. 2007: 9, R29-R40.
  4. Moraes LA, Paul-Clark MJ, Rickman A, Flower RJ, Goulding NJ, Perretti M. Ligand-specific glucocorticoid receptor activation in human platelets. Blood. 2005: 106, 4167-75.
  5. Goulding NJ. The molecular complexity of glucocorticoid actions in inflammation - a four-ring circus. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2004: 4,629-36.
  6. Goulding NJ, Waddell HC, Doyal L. Adherence to published ethical guidelines by the UK research community. Nature Genetics 2003: 34 (2), 117-119.
  7. Fairhurst AM, Connolly JE, Hintz KA, Goulding NJ, Rassias AJ, Yeager MP, William Rigby W, Wallace PK. Regulation and localization of endogenous human tristetraprolin. Arthritis Res Ther 2003, 5:R214-R225
  8. Fonseca, J.E.,  Edwards, J.C.W., S. Blades, S., Goulding, N.J. Macrophage subpopulations in rheumatoid synovium: Reduced CD163 expression in CD4+ T lymphocyte-rich microenvironments. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2002: 46 (5), 1210-1216.
  9. Noon LA, Franklin JM, King PJ, Goulding NJ, Hunyady L, Clark AJ.  Failed export of the adrenocorticotrophin receptor from the endoplasmic reticulum in non-adrenal cells: evidence in support of a requirement for a specific adrenal accessory factor. J Endocrinol. 2002 Jul;174(1):17-25.
  10. Sulahian TH, Högger P, Wahner AE, Wardwell K, Goulding NJ, Sorg C, Droste A, Stehling M, Wallace PK, Morganelli PM, Guyre PM. Human monocytes express CD163, which is upregulated by IL-10 and identical to p155. Cytokine. 2000 Sep;12(9):1312-21.

Sponsors

Sir Halley Stewart

Collaborators

Internal
Prof Mauro Perretti (QMUL)

External
Prof Paul M Guyre (Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon NH, USA); Prof Ron M. Green;  Eunice & Julian Cohen (Dartmouth College, Hanover NH)

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