Name:
Professor David Dexter FBPhS
Organisation:
Parkinson's UK
Year elected:
2023
Primary professional setting:
Other
David graduated from the University of Bradford in 1985 with a BSc (Hons) degree in Pharmacology. He then conducted postgraduate research into the neurodegenerative mechanisms that cause Parkinson’s at the Institute of Psychiatry, London and was award a PhD in Neuropharmacology in 1991. David was awarded a lectureship in Pharmacology at Imperial College London in 1994, progressing to Professor of NeuroPharmacology in 2012 and then Deputy Head of the Division of Brain Sciences in 2014. He has pioneered research into understanding the neurodegenerative mechanisms that cause Parkinson’s, identifying novel drug targets which he has translated through in vitro and in vivo pharmacological models into drugs which have entered Parkinson’s clinical trials. In 2002 David established the Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank at Imperial, an internal tissue resource for research. At Imperial he played a leading role in teaching pharmacology to medical students. In 2017 he joined Parkinson’s UK as the associate Research Director, then Research Director in 2023. David is also the pharmacology lead on the Parkinson’s UK Virtual Biotech, a pioneering programme developing better treatment for Parkinson’s.