Fellow

Professor Nicholas Standen is Professor of Physiology at the University of Leicester. His research concerns ion channels in cell membranes, especially potassium channels. His key discoveries include the first description of calcium-activated potassium currents, which have been shown to be widely expressed in many cell types. He also discovered and characterised the potassium channels sensitive to ATP in skeletal muscle; these may act to release potassium to cause vasodilatation during exercise. Related to this discovery was his finding that potassium channels sensitive to ATP also occur in the smooth muscle of arterioles, providing a pathway for metabolic vasodilatation and an important target for drugs.