Joshua Smalley
Research/Areas of Interest
Josh's research interests include characterizing endogenous GABA A receptor subunit composition, investigating how this can influence receptor-interacting proteins, and how this dictates the pharmacology and sub-cellular localization of receptor sub-types. This work involves the development of large data-rich 'omic' technologies and bioinformatic analyses for the identification of novel GABA A receptor-related targets for neurological diseases.
Biography
A biochemist, neuroscientist and bioinformatician with extensive expertise in proteomics and genomics. After receiving his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in biochemistry and toxicology respectively from the University of Surrey, UK, Josh undertook his Ph.D. in genetics and bioinformatics under the supervision of Timothy Gant and Flaviano Giorgini at the MRC Toxicology Unit, UK. His Ph.D. project involved studying the potential applications of the connectivity map (cMap), a bioinformatic tool that can be used to detect similarities in drugs and disease based on transcriptional fingerprints. Following his Ph.D., Josh worked with one of the developers of the cMap—Justin Lamb—as a visiting scientist at Genometry Inc., Boston, MA. Josh returned to the United Kingdom for a postdoctoral position under Professor Ian Forsythe at the University of Leicester, UK, where he studied the phospho-dependent modulation and trafficking of the voltage-gated potassium channel; Kv2.1. He then assumed his second postdoctoral position under the tutelage of Professor Stephen Moss at Tufts University, Boston, USA, studying the expression, assembly, and postranslational modification of key proteins that regulate inhibitory neurotransmission; GABA A receptors and KCC2.