Rate My Professor Susan Duty

Professor Susan Duty is a distinguished pharmacologist and neuroscientist who commenced her career at the United Medical and Dental Schools (UMDS) of the University of London. In 1990, she was affiliated with the Department of Pharmacology at St. Thomas's Hospital, UMDS, undertaking research supported by a SERC CASE Award in collaboration with Roche Products Limited. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in 1987 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1990, both from the University of Manchester. Advancing at King's College London, she progressed from Lecturer to Reader in Pharmacology and Neuroscience, served as Deputy Head and later Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and currently holds the position of Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience. She is also Co-Head of the Department of the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre (Wolfson SPaRC).

Duty's research specializes in novel therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s disease, emphasizing neuroprotection, regulation of basal ganglia circuitry via metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGlu4), enhancement of fibroblast growth factor 20 (FGF20) production, and mechanisms of pain in the disease. Her team employs molecular, cellular, and preclinical models including rats and marmosets. Key publications encompass Mann et al. (2020), “Antiparkinsonian Effects of a Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 4 Agonist in MPTP-Treated Marmosets,” Journal of Parkinson’s Disease; Fletcher et al. (2019), “Targeted re-positioning identifies drugs that increase fibroblast growth factor 20 production and protect against 6-hydroxydopamine-induced nigral cell loss in rats,” Scientific Reports; Betts et al. (2012), “Neuroprotective effects of the mGlu4 receptor positive allosteric modulator, VU0155041 in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesion rat model of Parkinson’s disease,” British Journal of Pharmacology; Boshoff et al. (2018), “Fibroblast growth factor 20 is protective towards dopamine neurones in vitro but lacks functional protection in the 6-OHDA lesion rat model of Parkinson’s disease,” and recent contributions such as Hudson et al. (2023), “Periaqueductal grey and spinal cord pathology contribute to pain in Parkinson’s disease,” npj Parkinson’s Disease. With 87 publications cited over 3,700 times, her work has secured funding from the Medical Research Council, Parkinson’s UK, and industry partners. Duty is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS), recipient of Teaching Excellence Awards from King’s College London and the British Pharmacological Society, and delivered the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience Inaugural Lecture, “Call of Duty: Pharmacology vs Parkinson’s Disease,” in 2023. She participates in projects like TOBeATPAIN addressing neuroinflammation in pain syndromes.