Stephen Brendan McMahon

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Stephen Brendan McMahon
Born21 December 1954
London, United Kingdom
Died9 October 2021
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
Known forPain research
AwardsBonica IASP, British Neuroscience Association 2019 Outstanding Contribution of Neuroscience
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

Stephen "Mac" McMahon (21 December 1954 – 9 October 2021), FMedSci, was the Sherrington Professor of Physiology at King's College London, and Director of the Wellcome Trust / London Pain Consortium.[1] Professor McMahon led a world-renowned research laboratory at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases in central London from 1985 to 2021.

An outstanding educator as well as researcher, Professor McMahon was the editor of Wall and Melzack's Textbook of Pain, 5th and 6th Edition (7th Edition in preparation). He published more than 300 research articles[2] in scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Neuroscience, Cell, Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience, with an H-index of 91.[3]

Education[edit]

Professor McMahon was educated at the University of Leeds where he was awarded a BSc (Hons) and PhD in Physiology. His PhD was supervised by John F B Morrison[4] and completed in 1979 with a thesis entitled An electrophysiological study of spinal neurons activated by stimulation of the abdominal viscera.[5]

Career and research[edit]

Professor McMahon's research trajectory was strongly influenced by Patrick Wall with whom he trained at University College London and St Thomas' Hospital in the 1980s. Like Patrick Wall, Professor McMahon is remembered as a world-leading pain research expert.[2][3][6]

Commanding a large range of techniques ranging from molecular biology, in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology and behavioural studies in animal models, in vivo imaging, cell sorting and RNAseq, to genome profiling in patients and human psychophysics, the McMahon laboratory contributed greatly to understanding of basic pain physiology on both a systemic (pain pathways[7]) and molecular (pain mediators[8] and receptors[9]) level. Additionally, a large body of Professor McMahon's research worked to translate basic pain mechanisms towards the clinic - contributing to research on GDNF,[10][11] NGF[12][13] and P2X3 receptors[14][15][16] resulting in several phase I, II and III clinical trials for pain treatment.

As well as pain research, Professor McMahon was a key contributor to the field of neuroregeneration, both following spinal cord injury[17] and in the context of peripheral nerve damage.[18]

McMahon was an expert, champion and mentor: many prominent researchers trained with him, becoming Professors themselves, including Gary Lewin,[19] Andrew Rice,[20] Elizabeth Bradbury,[21] and David Bennett.[22]

Awards and honours[edit]

Professor McMahon received a number of awards for his research, including the Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience Award[23][24][25] from the British Neuroscience Association (2019), the Patrick Wall Lecture[26] from the Australian Pain Society (2018), the John J. Bonica Distinguished Lecture Award[27] from the International Association for the Study of Pain (2016), and the GL Brown Lecturer Award from the Physiological Society[28] (2001).

He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 1999.[29]

Wellcome Trust Pain Consortium and collective efforts[edit]

Amongst many individual prizes and grants,[30] Professor McMahon was strongly involved with large collaborative efforts to understand pain pathophysiology. Professor McMahon directed the Wellcome Trust Pain Consortium (previously known as the London Pain Consortium).[31] He was an academic lead on Europain, an EU-IMI consortium[32] and deputy Chair of the MRC Neuroscience and Mental Health Board. He was a Principal Investigator for the BonePain: European Training Network to Combat Bone Pain.[33] In addition, Professor McMahon was an enthusiastic communicator of science within academia but also widely to the public.[34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The London Pain Consortium - Welcome To London Pain Consortium". www.lpc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b "SB McMahon - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Scopus preview - Scopus - Author details (McMahon, StephenB)". www.scopus.com. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  4. ^ "J Morrison researchgate website".
  5. ^ McMahon, Stephen Brendan (1979). "/ An electrophysiological study of spinal neurons activated by stimulation of the abdominal viscera". University of Leeds. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  6. ^ Editor, PRF News (29 June 2012). "The Power of the Collective: A Conversation with Stephen McMahon". Pain Research Forum. Retrieved 1 April 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Cook, Alison J.; Woolf, Clifford J.; Wall, Patrick D.; McMahon, Stephen B. (January 1987). "Dynamic receptive field plasticity in rat spinal cord dorsal horn following C-primary afferent input". Nature. 325 (6100): 151–153. Bibcode:1987Natur.325..151C. doi:10.1038/325151a0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 3808072. S2CID 4363804.
  8. ^ McMahon, Stephen B.; Cafferty, William B. J.; Marchand, Fabien (1 April 2005). "Immune and glial cell factors as pain mediators and modulators". Experimental Neurology. 192 (2): 444–462. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2004.11.001. ISSN 0014-4886. PMID 15755561. S2CID 40752010.
  9. ^ McMahon, Stephen B.; Armanini, Mark P.; Ling, Lanway H.; Phillips, Heidi S. (1 May 1994). "Expression and coexpression of Trk receptors in subpopulations of adult primary sensory neurons projecting to identified peripheral targets". Neuron. 12 (5): 1161–1171. doi:10.1016/0896-6273(94)90323-9. ISSN 0896-6273. PMID 7514427. S2CID 45653788.
  10. ^ Boucher, Timothy J.; Okuse, Kenji; Bennett, David L. H.; Munson, John B.; Wood, John N.; McMahon, Stephen B. (6 October 2000). "Potent Analgesic Effects of GDNF in Neuropathic Pain States". Science. 290 (5489): 124–127. Bibcode:2000Sci...290..124B. doi:10.1126/science.290.5489.124. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11021795.
  11. ^ Bennett, David L. H.; Michael, Gregory J.; Ramachandran, Navin; Munson, John B.; Averill, Sharon; Yan, Qiao; McMahon, Stephen B.; Priestley, John V. (15 April 1998). "A Distinct Subgroup of Small DRG Cells Express GDNF Receptor Components and GDNF Is Protective for These Neurons after Nerve Injury". Journal of Neuroscience. 18 (8): 3059–3072. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-08-03059.1998. ISSN 0270-6474. PMC 6792585. PMID 9526023.
  12. ^ Mcmahon, Stephen B.; Bennett, David L. H.; Priestley, John V.; Shelton, David L. (August 1995). "The biological effects of endogenous nerve growth factor on adult sensory neurons revealed by a trkA-IgG fusion molecule". Nature Medicine. 1 (8): 774–780. doi:10.1038/nm0895-774. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 7585179. S2CID 11048892.
  13. ^ Crowley, Craig; Spencer, Susan D.; Nishimura, Merry C.; Chen, Karen S.; Pitts-Meek, Sharon; Armaninl, Mark P.; Ling, Lanway H.; McMahon, Stephen B.; Shelton, David L.; Levinson, Arthur D.; Phillips, Heidi S. (25 March 1994). "Mice lacking nerve growth factor display perinatal loss of sensory and sympathetic neurons yet develop basal forebrain cholinergic neurons". Cell. 76 (6): 1001–1011. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90378-6. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 8137419. S2CID 2072569.
  14. ^ Cockayne, Debra A.; Hamilton, Sara G.; Zhu, Quan-Ming; Dunn, Philip M.; Zhong, Yu; Novakovic, Sanja; Malmberg, Annika B.; Cain, Gary; Berson, Amy; Kassotakis, Laura; Hedley, Linda (October 2000). "Urinary bladder hyporeflexia and reduced pain-related behaviour in P2X 3 -deficient mice". Nature. 407 (6807): 1011–1015. Bibcode:2000Natur.407.1011C. doi:10.1038/35039519. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11069181. S2CID 4308502.
  15. ^ Bradbury, Elizabeth J.; Burnstock, Geoffery; McMahon, Stephen B. (1 November 1998). "The Expression of P2X3Purinoreceptors in Sensory Neurons: Effects of Axotomy and Glial-Derived Neurotrophic Factor". Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. 12 (4): 256–268. doi:10.1006/mcne.1998.0719. ISSN 1044-7431. PMID 9828090. S2CID 54288996.
  16. ^ Kaan, Timothy K. Y.; Yip, Ping K.; Patel, Sital; Davies, Meirion; Marchand, Fabien; Cockayne, Debra A.; Nunn, Philip A.; Dickenson, Anthony H.; Ford, Anthony P. D. W.; Zhong, Yu; Malcangio, Marzia (1 September 2010). "Systemic blockade of P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors attenuates bone cancer pain behaviour in rats". Brain. 133 (9): 2549–2564. doi:10.1093/brain/awq194. ISSN 0006-8950. PMID 20802203.
  17. ^ Bradbury, Elizabeth J.; Moon, Lawrence D. F.; Popat, Reena J.; King, Von R.; Bennett, Gavin S.; Patel, Preena N.; Fawcett, James W.; McMahon, Stephen B. (April 2002). "Chondroitinase ABC promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury". Nature. 416 (6881): 636–640. Bibcode:2002Natur.416..636B. doi:10.1038/416636a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11948352. S2CID 4430737.
  18. ^ Ramer, Matt S.; Priestley, John V.; McMahon, Stephen B. (January 2000). "Functional regeneration of sensory axons into the adult spinal cord". Nature. 403 (6767): 312–316. Bibcode:2000Natur.403..312R. doi:10.1038/35002084. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 10659850. S2CID 1052454.
  19. ^ "Lewin Lab". www.mdc-berlin.de. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Home - Professor Andrew Rice". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Elizabeth Bradbury - Research Portal, King's College, London". kclpure.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  22. ^ "David Bennett — Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences". www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  23. ^ "The 2019 BNA Prize Winners! | News | The British Neuroscience Association". www.bna.org.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  24. ^ "The 2019 BNA Prize Winners! | News | The British Neuroscience Association". www.bna.org.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Professor Stephen McMahon receives 2019 Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience Award". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  26. ^ "2018 Patrick Wall Lecture: Professor Stephen McMahon". Australian Pain Society. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Winners: Congress-Related Awards - IASP". www.iasp-pain.org. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  28. ^ "GL Brown Prize Lecture". The Physiological Society. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  29. ^ "Professor Stephen McMahon | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  30. ^ "Stephen McMahon - Research Funding - Research Portal, King's College, London". kclpure.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  31. ^ "The London Pain Consortium - Welcome To London Pain Consortium". www.lpc.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  32. ^ "IMI Innovative Medicines Initiative | EUROPAIN | Understanding chronic pain and improving its treatment". IMI Innovative Medicines Initiative. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  33. ^ "Partners". BonePain II. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  34. ^ "Professor McMahon describes UVB experiment". YouTube.
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