Professor Christopher Huang

Degrees and honours

• 1974: BA (Oxford). Physiological Sciences, The Queen's College, Oxford
• 1976: BMBCh (Oxford). Clinical Medicine, Oxford University Clinical School
• 1979: PhD (Cambridge) Medical Research Council Scholar, Physiological Laboratory and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
• 1985: DM (Oxford)
• 1986: MD (Cambridge)
• 1995: DSc (Oxford)
• 1995: ScD (Cambridge
• 2011: FRSB (United Kingdom)
• 2016: FESC
• 2017: FPhysiol

Awards and prizes:

• 1971-76: Florence Heale Open Scholar, The Queen's College, Oxford
• 1971-76: President's Scholar, Republic of Singapore
• 1973: Benefactor's Prize, The Queen's College, Oxford
• 1976: Brian Johnson Prize in Pathology, University of Oxford
• 1977: LEPRA Award, British Leprosy Relief Association
• 1980: Rolleston Memorial Prize for Physiological Research, University of Oxford
• 1981: Gedge Prize in Physiology, University of Cambridge
• 2008-2011: Adjunct Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University Medical Centre

Research interests

Research into physiological signalling mechanisms:

• 1978-1993: Dielectric analysis of activation signals in excitation-contraction coupling
• 1988-1991: Clinical nerve regeneration through freeze treated muscle grafts
• 1988-2004: Cellular signalling in osteoclastic bone resorptive activity
• 1994-2002: Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of diabetic and hypertensive hearts. Diffusion weighted and diffusion tensor imaging in human brain and cortical spreading depression. fMRI studies of hypoxic, hypercapnic and pharmacological actions
• 1992-2008: Osmotic and electrolyte homeostasis in skeletal muscle
• 1993-2006: Dihydropyridine-ryanodine receptor coupling mechanisms in striated muscle
• 2000-: Cardiac arrhythmic mechanisms in murine genetic models for human disease
• 2018-: Sodium channel structure and modulation

Biography

Employment history:

• 1977-78: Pre-registration: Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
• 1979-84: University of Cambridge: Demonstrator in Physiology.
• 1979-2019: Fellow and College Lecturer in Physiology,
• 1981-2019: Director of Studies in Medical Sciences,
• 1984-96: University of Cambridge: Lecturer in Physiology
• 1996-2002: University of Cambridge: Reader in Cellular Physiology,.
• 2002-19: University of Cambridge: Professor of Cell Physiology
• 2002-19: Professorial Fellow, Murray Edwards College
• 2006-: Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge.
• 2006-2017: Independent non-executive director, HutchMed Ltd.
• 2015-2020: Independent non-executive director, Hutchison Biofilm Solutions, Ltd.
• 2019-: Visiting professor: University of Surrey
• 2021-: Visiting professor: Southwest Medical University, PRC.

University committees:

• 1986-present: Manager, Prince Philip Scholarship Fund
• 1988-2019. Council of the Senate Joint Applications Committee
• 2007-2019: Adjudicator, Gedge Prize in Physiology
• 2010-2017: Convener and adjudicator, William Bate Hardy Prize
• 2010-2016: Cambridge Philosophical Society: Biological Secretary; Vice-President; President

National committees:

• 2005-present: Editor: Biomedcentral Physiolog
• 2007-present: Editor: Europace
• 2008-2019: Editor: Biological Reviews
• 2014-2018: Fellowships Committee, British Heart Foundation
• 2021-: Editor: Bibliographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society

International committees:

• 1990-96: Editor: The Journal of Physiology
• 1994-99: Chairman: Editorial Board for Monographs of the Physiological Society
• 2020-: Editor, eLIFE
• 2020-:  Consultant, Biomarin Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Selected Books:

• Huang, C.L.-H. (1993). Intramembrane charge movements in striated muscle. Monographs of the Physiological Society, No. 44.  Oxford: Clarendon Press. 292 pp.
• Glasby, M.A. & Huang, C.L-H. (Eds).  (1995). Applied Physiology for Surgery and Critical Care.  Butterworth-Heinneman. 756pp.
• Usher-Smith, J. A., Murrell, G.A.C., Ellis, H.E. & Huang, C.L.-H. (2010). Research in Medicine: Planning a project – writing a thesis. 3/e.. Cambridge University Press.
• Chambers, D., Huang, C. L-H & Matthews, G.D.K. (2019). Basic Physiology for Anaesthetists 2/e. Cambridge University Press.
• Huang, C. L-H. (2021). Keynes & Aidley’s Nerve and Muscle 5/e. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521519557.

Selected recent research papers

• Martin, C. A., Guzadhur, L., Grace, A.A., Lei, M. & Huang, C. L-H. (2011). Mapping of reentrant spontaneous polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in a Scn5a+/- mouse model. American Journal of Physiology. Heart Circ Physiol. 300(5): H1853-1862. #H-00034-2011R2. PMID: 21378142. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00034.2011
• Martin, C. A., Siedlecka, U., Kemmerich, K., Lawrence, J., Cartledge, J., Guzadhur, L., Brice, N., Grace, A. A., Schwiening, C., Terracciano, C. M. & Huang, C. L-H. (2012). Reduced Na+ and higher K+ channel expression and function contribute to right ventricular origin of arrhythmias in Scn5a+/- mice. Open biology. 2,120072. PMID: 22773948.  DOI: 10.1098/rsob.120072
• Matthews, G. D. K, Guzadhur, L., Sabir, I. N., Grace, A. A. & Huang, C.L-H. (2013). Action potential wavelength restitution predicts alternans and arrhythmia in murine Scn5a+/- hearts. Journal of Physiology, 591, 4167-4188. PMID: 23836691. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2013.254938
• Salvage, S. C., Chandrasekharan, K. H., Jeevaratnam, K., Dulhunty, A. F., Thompson, A. J., Jackson, A. P., & Huang, C. L.-H.  (2018). Multiple targets for flecainide action: implications for cardiac arrhythmogenesis. British Journal of Pharmacology, 175, 1260–1278. PMID: 28369767. DOI: 10.1111/bph.13807
• Huang, C. L.-H. (2017). Murine electrophysiological models of cardiac arrhythmogenesis. Physiological Reviews, 97, 283–409. PMID: 27974512. DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00007.2016
• Lei, M., Wu, L., Terrar, D. A. & Huang, C. L-H. (2018). Modernized classification of antiarrhythmic drugs. Circulation. 138, 1879–1896. PMID: 30354657. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.035455
• Sarbjit-Singh, S. S., Matthews, H. R., & Huang, C. L-H. (2020). Ryanodine receptor modulation by caffeine challenge modifies Na+ current properties in intact murine skeletal muscle fibres. Scientific Reports. 10, 2199. PMID: 32042141  DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59196-9
• Bardsley, O. J., Matthews, H. R. & Huang, C. L-H. (2021). Finite element analysis predicts Ca2+ microdomains within tubular-sarcoplasmic reticular junctions of amphibian skeletal muscle. Scientific Reports. 11: 14376.  PMID: 34257321. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93083-1

Faculty website

• Profile on the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience website.