Howard Baylis

We am aim to understand how signalling within and between cells is used to regulate the physiology and development of animals. We have a particular focus of the role of ion channels. My current focus is on the role of pentameric ligand gated ion channels in the nervous system of C. elegans. We also study how signalling networks that use the second messengers calcium and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) are used to control the biology of C. elegans. Our research is always driven by a desire to integrate a mechanistic understanding of cell and molecular processes with whole animal function as revealed and measured by development, physiological function or behaviour. To tackle these questions we use a combination of approaches including; RNAi and genetics to perturb and analyse gene function, electrophysiological techniques to investigate channel function, cell biological and microscopical approaches to address function and assays of whole animal function.

[2026] Identification and functional investigation of Octopus vulgaris TRPV channels as potential nociceptors in cephalopods. Eleonora Maria Pieroni, Howard Baylis, Vincent O’Connor, Lindy Holden-Dye, Luis Alfonso Yañez-Guerra, Pamela Imperadore, Graziano Fiorito, James Dillon. bioRxiv