MICHAEL CURTIS (BSCR TREASURER) |
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| I graduated with a PhD in pharmacology from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, in 1986. After that I moved to David Hearse’s group at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Here, I shared an office and lab with Metin Avkiran then, like me, a new postdoc. My 3 years there went well and set me up for a lectureship appointment at King’s College in the pharmacology department, based in Chelsea. This was a sort of homecoming – it was fun to return to where I had been an enthusiastic undergraduate 10 years earlier, although the heady days of punk had long since gone; no more Johnny Rotten, just dreadful yuppies on the King’s Road by the time I took up my first HEFC appointment. During the ensuing 17 years I have run a small group focused on antiarrhythmic drugs, ventricular arrhythmia mechanisms, proarrhythmia and, occasionally, coronary vascular and cardiac mechanical function. For a more details please click here (please note that off-campus access may be restricted). Over the years I have found research to be a pretty much like other human activities – often susceptible to the mores of fashion, but generally moving slowly with an undercurrent of good sense and judgement. I generally try to avoid the trendy, although the opportunity to downsize from rat to mouse has proven irresistible. This is a particularly ironic turn of events since the people encouraging me to use the mouse are of the very same mould as those who, in the past, were somewhat reluctant to embrace my work using the rat on grounds of questionable clinical relevance (worrisomely small heart, disturbingly short APD, frighteningly fast sinus rate, that sort of thing). As for details, papers, prizes and miscellaneous prestigious accolades, it is not for me to puff my own highlights, so I won’t. After protracted negotiations which evidently began in the 1980s, I was eventually transferred from Chelsea to Lambeth in 1998, not because I didn’t fit into Ruud Gullit’s plans but because King’s and Tommys had by then merged. So I found myself back where I had once been a whey-faced postdoc, albeit this time with a nice office of my own. Here, I can wave to Mike Shattock in his office on the other side of my lab. Over the years I have been very fortunate to have had good students (including two BPS-funded AJ Clarke scholars) and supportive colleagues and, despite the march of the bean counters, the job remains a joy. I joined the BSCR committee as a co-opted member (founding co-editor of The Bulletin) in 1987, was elected as a committee member proper in 1996, and have stayed on since 1998 as elected (and re-elected) treasurer. With me in charge of strategic planning (alright, I sign cheques and occasionally order a new cheque book) and with Tony Cavalheiro doing (splendidly) most of the work, it has proven difficult to find a willing successor, so I carry on. In my spare time I edit or co-edit three journals, follow the mighty Seagulls, and cherish my loved ones. |
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