Medway school of pharmacy

I completed my Undergraduate degree in Physiology at the University of Dundee in 1999. I obtained my MSc in Neuroscience from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London in 2000. Following this I completed my PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2003. My PhD thesis focused on the interactions between Neuropeptide Y and light in the regulation of the master circadian pacemaker located in the hypothalamus. My post-doctoral research has focused on looking at the influences of serotonin on the circadian clock (Smith College, MA, USA) and more recently focusing on retinal physiology and assessing the contributions of photoreceptors in the mediation of non-image forming responses to light (University of Manchester, UK). Currently, I hold a position at the Medway School of Pharmacy as a lecturer in Pharmacology/ Neurophysiology.

Specialist areas

Circadian Neurobiology, Biological rhythms. Currently course co-ordinator for first year Body Systems module (PDDA1).

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My research interests lie within biological rhythms and circadian neurobiology.  I am particularly interested in the way in which the mammalian circadian clock, located in the brain, responds to environmental stimuli such as light and non-photic cues which include exercise and feeding.  My most recent studies have looked at the neural basis of circadian entrainment and retinal photoreceptor contribution to non-image forming circadian responses.  Disruptions of this type of biological rhythm have been shown to result in, amongst others, states of depression, seasonal effective disorder (S.A.D.) and, most recently, the onset of cancer in humans.  At the Medway School of Pharmacy I am currently setting up electrophysiological experiments to further understand the signal transduction pathways involved in neurochemical signalling within the circadian clock, termed the suprachiasmatic nucleus in mammals. 

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• Nicholas SA, Coughlan K, Yasinska I, Lall GS, Gibbs BF, Calzolai L, Sumbayev VV (2011) Dysfunctional mitochondria contain endogenous high-affinity human Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) ligands and induce TLR4-mediated inflammatory reactions. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 43:674-681.
• Lall GS, Revell VL, Miji H, Al Enezi J, Altimus CM, Guler AD, Aguilar C, Cameron MA, Allender S, Hankins MW, Lucas RJ (2010) Distinct contributions of rod, cone, and melanopsin photoreceptors to encoding irradiance. Neuron 66:417-428
• Lall GS, Revell VL, Momiji H, Al Enezi, Atimus OM, Guler AS, Aguilar C, Cameron MA, Allender S, Hankins MW, Lucas RJ (2010) Distinct contributions of Rod, Cone melanopsin photoreceptors to encoding erradiance. Neuron 66:417-428
• Guler AD*, Ecker JL*, Lall GS*, Haq S, Altimus CM, Liao HW, Barnard AR, Cahill H, Badea TC,Zhao H, Hankins MW, Berson DM, Lucas RJ, Yau KW, Hattar S (2008) Melanopsin cells are the principal conduits for rod-cone input to non-image-forming vision. Nature 453:102-105. *equal contributing first author.
• Sakaran, S., Lall, G.S., Lucas, R.J., Foster, R. and Hankins, M., (2007). 2-Aminoethoxydiphenylborane is an acute inhibitor of directly photosensitive retinal ganglion cell activity in vitro and in vivo. Journal of Neuroscience. 27 (15): 3981-3986.
• Harrington, M., Molyneux, P., Soscia. S., Prabakar. C., McKinley-Brewer, J., Lall, G., (2007) Behavioral and neurochemical sources of variability of circadian period and phase: studies of circadian rhythms of npy-/- mice. American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology. 292(3): R1306-R1314.
• Lall, G.S. and Harrington, M.E.,(2006). Potentiation of the resetting effects of light on circadian rhythms of hamsters using serotonin and NPY receptor antagonistsNeuroscience. 141, 1545-52.
• Lall, G. S. and Biello, S.M., (2003). Neuropeptide Y, GABA and circadian phase shifts to photic stimuli. Neuroscience. 120, 915-921.
• Lall, G. S. and Biello, S. M., (2003). Attenuation of circadian light induced phase advances and delays by neuropeptide Y and a neuropeptide Y Y1/Y5 receptor agonist. Neuroscience. 119, 625-631
• Lall, G. S. and Biello, S. M., (2002). Attenuation of phase shifts to light by activity or neuropeptide Y: a time course study. Brain Research. 957, 109-116.

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