Dr David Andrew

BDS, PhD, FHEA, DDMFRRCR

School of Clinical Dentistry

Senior Clinical Lecturer

Consultant in Dental Radiology

d.andrew@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 215 9311

Full contact details

Dr David Andrew
School of Clinical Dentistry
19 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
Profile

After undergraduate Dentistry at Sheffield I did a PhD in Physiology (Bristol) followed by 5 years as a postdoc in the USA (Baltimore, Phoenix). On my return to the UK I was a Research Fellow in Glasgow for 3 years before becoming a lecturer in Sheffield in 2004. In 2013 I was appointed Senior Clinical Lecturer.

Since 2004 I have run a basic science laboratory dedicated to researching the mechanisms of chronic pain. More recently I have moved into translational studies in pain, in collaboration with colleagues in the Medical School and Weston Park Hospital locally as well as St Gemma’s Hospice, Leeds. My clinical interests are in oncology imaging and interventional procedures in the head and neck.

Research interests

My main research interest is in the mechanisms of chronic pain, that is what are the changes that occur in the nervous system that convert the protective function of acute pain into the debilitating symptoms of chronic pain. My research uses in vivo approaches in concert with preclinical models of neuropathic (nerve injury-induced) and cancer-related pain. A major current project funded by the MRC is tackling the role of the tyrosine kinase molecule Src in the mechanisms of cancer-induced bone pain. This is a collaborative project between basic science researchers and clinicians at the University of Sheffield/Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and AstraZeneca, which involves both laboratory and clinical studies of the Src inhibitor Saracatinib.

Electrophysiological recordings from a spinoparabrachial neuron

Electrophysiological recordings from a spinoparabrachial neuron in lamina I of the spinal cord showing how its signalling properties changes when capsaicin, the ‘hot’ chemical from chilli peppers, is injected into the skin.

Changes in signalling properties of pain-related neurons are thought to be important in the development of chronic pain.

Research team

  • Dr Viki Hunt
  • Dr Jill Callaghan
Publications

Journal articles

Teaching activities

I teach interpretative Radiology to undergraduate dental and hygiene/therapy students. I also teach junior hospital doctors and dentists more advanced imaging like MRI and CT as applied to the diagnosis of head & neck pathology.

Professional activities and memberships

Clincal

I am a Consultant Radiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals as well as Chesterfield Royal Hospital. I routinely report plain film radiographs as well as cross-sectional imaging (MRI, CT) of the head and neck; I also perform diagnostic and interventional ultrasound and fluoroscopy. My main clinical interests are oncology imaging and interventional ultrasound. A current clinical study in collaboration with Dr Keith Hunter, Professor Winston Hide and Sheffield Children’s Hospital Diagnostic Genetics service is whole exome sequencing from lymph node biopsies in patients with throat cancer.