Profiles
Dr John Chilton
Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Education)
Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health)
Biography
Biography
Associate Head of School (Admissions, Marketing & Recruitment)
Qualifications
- M.A.(Hons.) Natural Sciences
- M.Sc. Neuroscience (Distinction)
- D.Phil. Developmental neurobiology
- Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
He moved to the MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London to join the group of Professor Sarah Guthrie, where he studied the development of the oculomotor system. During this time he was awarded an EMBO short-term fellowship to work in the lab of Dr Alain Chédotal in Paris. He stayed at KCL for a second post-doc, this time with Professor Phillip Gordon-Weeks, working on the growth cone cytoskeleton.
In 2005 he was awarded a RCUK Fellowship in Clinical Neuroscience and Molecular Biology at the newly-founded Peninsula Medical School. From 2011 to 2019 he was part of University of Exeter Medical School before returning to Plymouth in the summer of 2019.
He is passionate about widening participation in science and medicine. In 2006 he created the 'Men in White' science outreach programme which, until 2019, hosted over 2000 pupils from schools across the south west. With a deliberately ironic title, it aimed to dispel stereotypes about researchers such as the myth that all scientists are dull, middle-aged white men (even if that is an apt description of him). Men in White was used as a case study in an RCUK guide to public engagement and appeared on the BBC, ITV and local radio. In 2013, John was selected as an inaugural Public Engagement Champion in the RCUK-funded Catalyst scheme and he continues to speak at a range of science festivals and school events. Now that Men in White have moved to the Great Lab in the Sky, he is developing the interactive 'Braingineering' sessions to explore the mysteries of the brain with school groups.
Professional membership
- Biochemical Society
- International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE)
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
Feedback Lead
Biochemistry Lead
Main teaching themes:
Biochemistry, cell biology, neuroscience, teamwork.
Research
Research
Research interests
I have a passion for art and the visual representation of scientific ideas and am currently exploring the use of custom-printed 3-D molecular models in medical education.
I am interested in how principles of graphic design and comic book illustration can be used to explain biomedical concepts, especially molecular and cellular scale phenomena that may be seen as intangible and abstract. Examples of this can be seen on my Twitter feed @axonology and personal website www.axonology.com
Other research
My lab-based research had a longstanding interest in nervous system development with a particular focus on defining the role of the growth cone cytoskeleton in circuit formation. I worked closely with human geneticists to define pathways from genetic changes to the functional effects in development and disease. My work linking the genetic basis of congenital eye movement disorders to underlying embryonic mechanisms was published in Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. I have particular expertise in cytoskeletal function and this work has appeared in Nature Cell Biology and the Journal of Cell Biology. Linking genetic disorders to cell biology underpinned subsequent work on spastic paraplegia and retinitis pigmentosa published in Brain and PLoS Genetics. Latterly I applied the insights and tools from my work on cell and developmental biology to investigate early stages in the pathology of neurodegenerative disease, primarily Alzheimer’s Disease. A growing recognition of the possible similarity in disease mechanisms between dementia and diabetes enabled me to collaborate in new areas and apply tools developed for neurobiology to interrogate beta cell function.
Grants & contracts
EFSD/Novo Nordisk Programme for Diabetes Research in Europe, proposal led by Dr. C. Beall. ‘The role of astroglial mitochondrial dysfunction in altered neuron-astrocyte signalling during hypoglycaemia in diabetes.’ 01/10/2018 – 31/03/2020 €100,000.
BBSRC ALERT17 named investigator on proposal led by Prof. S. Scholpp BB/R013764/1 ‘A Single Molecule Detection Platform (SMD) for a Leica SP8 TCS to analyse protein-protein interactions in living specimen.’
Fight for Sight PhD studentship, co-supervisors Prof. A. Crosby & Dr. E. Baple. ‘Defining genes and molecular processes underlying two newly identified forms of inherited eye disease’. 01/09/2016-31/08/2019 ~£55,000.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation. 'Reversing the pathological accumulation of cofilin rods in dementia' 01/08/2017 – 31/07/2018 £5950.
ARUK Network Grant co-applicants: Dr. H. Hardy & Dr. J. Brown ‘Correlating cofilin rod deposition with markers of protein pathology in Alzheimer's Disease'. 02/2017 - 08/2017 £4400.
University of Exeter Medical School internal PhD studentship 'Cytoskeletal regulation of semaphorin signalling to promote spinal neuron regeneration'. 01/10/13 - 31/09/16 ~£60,000.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation, co-applicants Prof. A. Randall & Dr. F. Tamagnone. 'A novel 3-D culture method for determining the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on human neuronal stem cells.' 01/07/2015 - 30/06/2016 £2800.
BBSRC SW Doctoral Training Program Co-supervisor Dr. I. Jourdain (University of Exeter Biosciences) 'Fundamental role of the exocyst complex in cell shape definition, from simple to complex systems'. 01/09/2015 – 31/08/2019 ~£70,000.
Wellcome Trust/University of Exeter Institutional Strategic Support Fund ‘Calcium sensor proteins in neurodegeneration – are they the solution...or the problem?’ 01/07/12 - 30/11/13 £17,200.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation ‘Identification of changes in gene expression mediated by the SIM2 transcription factor and their effect on neuronal development in Down Syndrome.’ 01/06/12 - 31/10/13 £9,100.
BBSRC Project Grant ‘Interpretation of guidance cues by the actin-binding protein Drebrin to direct collective neuronal migration’ 01/07/11 - 30/06/14 £294,549.
Wellcome Trust Project Grant ‘Alpha2-chimaerin as a molecular switch which regulates motor axon growth and guidance’ Joint award with Prof. S. Guthrie (KCL; lead applicant) 01/07/10 - 31/06/13 £208,123.
Peninsula Medical School PhD studentship ‘Identifying the basis of the resistance of ocular motor neurons to degeneration in Motor Neuron Disease’ 01/10/10 - 31/09/13 £55,320.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation ‘Using one's brain to understand the kidney: an investigation into the role of the actin-binding protein Drebrin in renal podocytes and its involvement in diabetic nephropathy’ 01/04/10 - 31/03/11 £9,700.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation ‘Identification of genes causing human eye movement disorders’ 01/11/09 - 31/10/10 £9,600.
Wellcome Trust Project Grant ‘The Role of Actin-Binding Proteins in Neurons Undergoing Tangential Migration During Embryonic Development’ 01/06/07 - 31/05/10 £162,248.
BBSRC Public Engagement Award ‘Men in White meet The Fly’ Co-applicant: Dr. K. Gresty (Univ. Plymouth) 01/03/09 - 28/02/10 £3,200.
Peninsula Medical School PhD studentship ‘The control of motor neuron migration in the oculomotor system’ 01/10/06 - 31/09/09 £53,196.
Northcott Devon Medical Foundation ‘Neuronal Development and Repair; Role of the Recently Identified Protein Jamip1’ 01/08/06 - 31/07/07 £8,809.
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals