Research Interests
Cardiorespiratory control is essential for life from before birth all the way through, except for the briefest of pauses, to death. The neural networks that control cardiorespiratory activity form a dynamic microcircuit that must continually monitor and adapt to a set of ever-changing vital parameters (such as blood gas and pH levels) to maintain homeostasis. This cardiorespiratory microcircuit therefore has many components, and is subject to numerous internal, external and sensory control mechanisms.
My research primarily focuses on the role of neurones and glia in the control of breathing, and how different groups of neurones within the respiratory network interact with one another to generate and pattern respiratory output. I am currently developing a model of sleep apnoea, to study the link between sleep disordered breathing and heart failure.
I am an honorary senior research associate at UCL, where I am a member of the
Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Neuroscience (CCMN).
I am also co-organising the XIVth Oxford Conference on modelling and control of breathing.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/people/rhuckstepp/
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