My research interests mainly focus on respiratory and cardiovascular neurobiology. 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 it's comorbidities, such as heart failure and Alzheimer's Disease.
I have collaborations: utilizing Inscopix microscopy to study the respiratory network; developing an algorithm to find apnoeas in respiratory recordings; studying biocompatibility of new compounds; investigating the effects of novel purinergic agonists/antagonists on cardiorespiratory physiology; identifying the role of tanycytes in feeding; and investigating the role of PKG1α in food reward.
In addition to my research, I am a fellow of the higher education academy and hold a Postgradute award in teaching and learning in higher education. I currently lecture on cardiovascular and respiratory physiology and neurobiology at both Warwick. Further to my teaching and research roles, I am the deputy director of Post-doctoral affairs in the School of Life Sciences at Warwick, and I sit on both the Athena Swan committee and the AWERB. Outside of the University I am a member of the Alzheimer's research UK west midlands consortium, and I have sat on the central England AWERB hub. I am a member of the Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Neuroscience (CCMN). . Finally, I am a faculty member of F1000
PhD in Biology from Warwick University
BSc (hons) in Biomedical Sciences from Durham University
Member of the Society for Neuroscience
Member of the Physiological Society
Member of the European Society of Cardiology
- Worch, Joshua C., Weems, Andrew C., Yu, Jiayi, Arno, Maria C., Wilks, Thomas R., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., O'Reilly, Rachel K., Becker, Matthew L., Dove, Andrew P., 2020. Elastomeric polyamide biomaterials with stereochemically tuneable mechanical properties and shape memory. Nature Communications, 11 (1)
- van de Wiel, Joseph, Meigh, Louise, Bhandare, Amol M., Cook, Jonathan P., Nijjar, Sarbjit, Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Dale, Nicholas, 2020. Connexin26 mediates CO2-dependent regulation of breathing via glial cells of the medulla oblongata. Communications Biology, 3 (1)
- Hadj-Amar, Beniamino, Finkenstädt, Bärbel, Fiecas, Mark, Lévi, Francis A., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., 2020. Bayesian model search for nonstationary periodic time series. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 115 (531), pp. 1320-1335
- Duraffourd, Celine, Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Braren, Ingke, Fernandes, Cathy, Brock, Olivier, Delogu, Alessio, Prysyazhna, Oleksandra, Burgoyne, Joseph, Eaton, Philip, 2019. PKG1a oxidation negatively regulates food seeking behaviour and reward. Redox Biology, 21
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., 2019. Your input is a breath of fresh air! A chemosensory microcircuit of medullary raphe and RTN neurons. The Journal of Physiology, 597 (10), pp. 2609-2610
- Korsak, Alla, Sheikhbahaei , Shahriar, Machhada , Asif, Gourine , Alexander V., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., 2018. The role of parafacial neurons in the control of breathing during exercise. Scientific Reports, 8
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Cardoza, Kathryn P., Henderson, Lauren E., Feldman, Jack L., 2018. Distinct parafacial regions in control of breathing in adult rats. PLoS One, 13 (8)
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Henderson, Lauren E., Cardoza, Kathryn P., Feldman, Jack L., 2016. Interactions between respiratory oscillators in adult rats. eLife, 5
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Llaudet, Enrique, Gourine, Alexander V., 2016. CO2-induced ATP-dependent release of acetylcholine on the ventral surface of the medulla oblongata. PLoS One, 11 (12)
- Wells, J. A., Christie, I. N., Hosford, P. S., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Angelova, P. R., Vihko, P., Cork, S. C., Abramov, A. Y., Teschemacher, A. G., Kasparov, S., Lythgoe, M. F., Gourine, A. V., 2015. A critical role for purinergic signalling in the mechanisms underlying generation of BOLD fMRI responses. Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (13), pp. 5284-5292
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Cardoza, K. P., Henderson, L. E., Feldman, J. L., 2015. Role of parafacial Nuclei in control of breathing in adult rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (3), pp. 1052-1067
- Shigetomi, E., Jackson-Weaver, O., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., O'Dell, T. J., Khakh, B. S., 2013. TRPA1 Channels are regulators of astrocyte basal calcium levels and long-term potentiation via constitutive D-Serine release. Journal of Neuroscience, 33 (24), pp. 10143-10153
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Dale, Nicholas, 2011. CO2-dependent opening of an inwardly rectifying K+ channel. Pfluegers Archiv, Vol.461 (No.3), pp. 337-344
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Eason, Robert, Sachdev, Anshu, Dale, Nicholas, 2010. CO2-dependent opening of connexin 26 and related beta connexins. Journal of Physiology, Vol.588 (No.20), pp. 3921-3931
- Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Bihi, Rachid Id, Eason, Robert, Spyer, K. Michael, Dicke, Nikolai, Willecke, Klaus, Marina, Nephtali, Gourine, Alexander V., Dale, Nicholas, 2010. Connexin hemichannel-mediated CO2-dependent release of ATP in the medulla oblongata contributes to central respiratory chemosensitivity. Journal of Physiology, Vol.588 (No.20), pp. 3901-3920
- Tian, Faming, Gourine, Alexander V., Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Dale, Nicholas, 2009. A microelectrode biosensor for real time monitoring of L-glutamate release. Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol.645 (No.1-2), pp. 86-91
- Gourine, Alexander V., Dale, Nicholas, Korsak, Alla, Llaudet, Enrique, Tian, Faming, Huckstepp, Robert T. R., Spyer, K. Michael, 2008. Release of ATP and glutamate in the nucleus tractus solitarii mediate pulmonary stretch receptor (Breuer-Hering) reflex pathway. The Journal of Physiology, 586 (16), pp. 3963-3978