Digestive Physiology and Nutrition Group
Our group focuses on digestive physiology. We use animal models of digestive diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, gastric disorders (including gastroparesis) and disorders of gut-brain communication. We work with clinical colleagues to advance translation of our findings.
Research interests
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Techniques
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About our research
Our research programs include investigating:
- the stomach, its physiological control and its two-way communication with the brain
- inflammatory bowel disease, its biological basis and treatment
- gastric disorders: idiopathic, diabetic and iatrogenic gastroparesis
- pathways of neuroimmune interactions in the intestine, including vagal, sympathetic and enteric nervous system pathways
- the prevention of complications of Hirschsprung disease through stem cell replacement of missing neurons.
- disorders of large intestine, including constipation, diarrhea and Hirschsprung disease.
Research team
Research team head
Group Head
Research and technical staff
- Madeleine Di Natale
- Billie Hunne
Selected publications
- Di Natale MR, Hunne B, Stebbing MJ, Wang X, Liu ZM, Furness JB (2024), ‘Characterization of neuromuscular transmission and projections of muscle motor neurons in the rat stomach’, American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 326, G78–G93, 10.1152/ajpgi.00194.2023
- Di Natale MR, Athavale ON, Wang X, Du P, Cheng LK, Liu Z and Furness JB (2023), ‘Functional and anatomical gastric regions and their relations to motility control’, Neurogastroenterology and Motility: The Official Journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society, Mar 13:e14560, doi:10.1111/nmo.14560
- Furness JB, Lei E, Hunne B, Adams CD, Burns AJ, Wykosky J, Fazio Coles TE, Fothergill LJ, Molero JC, Pustovit RV, Stamp LA (2023), ‘Development of the aganglionic colon following surgical rescue in a cell therapy model of Hirschsprung disease in rat’, Disease Models & Mechanisms, 16(6):dmm050055, doi:10.1242/dmm.050055
- Furness JB, Pustovit RV, Syder AJ, Ringuet MT, Yoo EJ, Fanjul A, Wykosky J, Fothergill LJ, Whitfield EA, Furness SGB, (2021), ‘Dopamine and ghrelin receptor co-expression and interaction in the spinal defecation centres’, Neurogastroenterology and Motility, 33:e14051, doi:10.1111/nmo.14051
- Populin L, Stebbing MJ, Furness JB (2021), ‘Neuronal regulation of the gut immune system and neuromodulation for treating inflammatory bowel disease’, FASEB Bioreviews 3:953–966, doi:1096/fba.2021-00070
- Stebbing MJ, Shafton A, Davey CE, Di Natale MR, Furness JB, McAllen RM (2024), ‘A ganglionic intestino-intestinal reflex activated by acute noxious challenge’, American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 326(4):G360-G373, doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00145.2023
- Wang X, Cao J, Han K, Cho M, She Y, Scheven U, Avci R, Du P, Cheng LK, Natale MRD, Furness JB and Liu Z (2023), ‘Diffeomorphic surface modeling for MRI-based characterization of gastric anatomy and motility’, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 70(7):2046-2057, doi:10.1109/TBME.2023.3234509
- Wang X, Alkaabi A, Choi M, Di Natale MR, Scheven U, Noll DC, Furness JB, Liu Z (2024), ‘Surface mapping of gastric motor functions using MRI: a comparative study between humans and rats’, American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00045.2024
Contact us
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