David Attwell FRS, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Member of Academia Europaea, Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (born 1953ATTWELL, Prof. David Ian
''Who's Who 2015'', A & C Black, 2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014) is a British

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

, and the Jodrell Professor of Physiology at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in the Faculty of Life Sciences.

Life

David Attwell studied physics and physiology (with tutorials from John Stein, who facilitated his learning neuroscience) at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and earned his D.Phil. in neuroscience from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

where he studied with Julian Jack but also worked in the lab of Denis Noble. He did postdoctoral research at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

with Frank Werblin. His notable PhD students include Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Nicola Allen. He has worked on a wide range of subjects including cardiac electrophysiology, the ion channels in rod and cone photoreceptors and early visual processing, the properties of glial cells (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia), glutamate transporters, brain energy use and how it constrains the evolutionary "design" of the brain, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and control of brain blood flow especially at the capillary level by pericytes. In April 2024, the British Heart Foundation announced that David Attwell had been appointed Director of its new Centre for Vascular Dementia Research.

References

External links

Professor David Attwell page on The Academy of Medical Sciences
(archived)
"David Attwell family tree"
''Neurotree'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Attwell, David Ian 1953 births Living people British neuroscientists Fellows of the Royal Society Members of Academia Europaea Academics of University College London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Jodrell Professors of Physiology Presidents of The Physiological Society