Susan Diana Brain is a professor of

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

at the School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Sciences at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

where she has worked since 1989.Susan Brain's

Education

Brain completed a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in pharmacology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1981.

Career and research

Brain held a

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

post at the Institute of Dermatology. In 1989 she took up a lectureship at

, where she was promoted to

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in 1993 and in 1998 she was made Professor of Pharmacology at the ''School of Cardiovascular Medicine,'' where since 2005 she has been Head of the ''Vascular Biology and Inflammation Section''. She was also Head of the ''Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education Department'' between 2011 and 2018. Brain's research investigates the role of

sensory nerve A sensory nerve, or afferent nerve, is a general anatomic term for a nerve which contains predominantly somatic afferent nerve fibers. Afferent nerve fibers in a sensory nerve carry sensory information toward the central nervous system (CNS) fr ...

s in vascular

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

. In her early career she discovered the

Calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that act as antagonists of the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRPR). Several monoclonal antibodies which binds to the CGRP receptor or peptide have been ap ...

(CGRP) as a potent microvascular

vasodilator Vasodilation is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasoconstriction, ...

. More recently her research found that the gene

TRPC5 Short transient receptor potential channel 5 (TrpC5) also known as transient receptor protein 5 (TRP-5) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TRPC5'' gene. TrpC5 is subtype of the TRPC family of mammalian transient receptor potential ion ...

can help protect against pain in

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

and that the gene

TRPA1 Transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily A, member 1, also known as transient receptor potential ankyrin 1, TRPA1, or The Wasabi Receptor, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TRPA1'' (and in mice and rats by the ''Trpa1' ...

is essential for the

vascular The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away f ...

response when being exposed to cold environments.

Awards and honours

In 2018 she was elected as honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

British Pharmacological Society The British Pharmacological Society is the primary UK learned society for pharmacologists concerned with research into drugs and the way they work. Members work in academia, industry, regulatory agencies and the health services, and many are medi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Susan Living people Alumni of the University of London British pharmacologists Year of birth missing (living people)