Professor Samuel Fountain

I am Chair of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia. I graduated with a BSc and PhD in pharmacology from the University of Leeds (1997 – 2004). My PhD research on smooth muscle potassium channels was supervised by Professor David Beech FMedSci, and postdoctoral work at the University of Manchester on P2X receptors was supervised by Professor Alan North FRS. I started by independent research career following award of a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship. I currently lead a research programme of basic and clinical scientists that focuses on the pharmacology and physiology of P2X receptors, a family of ligand-gated ion channels activated by extracellular ATP. This includes understanding the structure-activity relationship of P2X receptors and drug-like ligands, and the role of ATP as a neurotransmitter in autonomic and sensory nerves that innervate vascular and adipose tissue. We have also been involved in consultancy and drug discovery projects with industrial partners, a key example of which is the first-in-class P2X3 receptor antagonist Gefapixant. I am an associate Editor of the journal Purinergic Signalling.