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neuroscience

Name: Professor Darrell J R Evans PhD
Academic position: Professor of Developmental Tissue Biology, Associate Dean
Research: Skeletal muscle development and craniofacial morphogenesis, communicating with different audiences

Contact details:
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9PX
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1273 877579
Fax: +44 (0)1273 877576
Email: d.evans@bsms.ac.uk

Biography:

• BSc (Biomedical Sciences) 1991. CNAA
• PhD (Anatomy) 1995. University of Aberdeen
• Postdoctoral Associate with Professor Drew Noden. 1994-1997. College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, USA
• Lecturer in Anatomy and Embryology 1997-2003 and Deputy Sub-Dean for Basic Medical Sciences. 2002-2003. Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University.
• Senior Lecturer in Anatomy. 2003-6. Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
• Reader in Anatomy. 2006. Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
• Professor of Developmental Tissue Biology. 2007. Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
• Member of the Medical Education Unit. 2003-present. Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

Teaching focus:
Comparative and functional anatomy, embryology and developmental biology.
Fellow of the Academy of Higher Education.
University of Sussex Teaching Excellence Award 2007.
'The chance of contributing to the development of an innovative undergraduate medical curriculum has been particularly rewarding and enjoyable. The inclusion of postgraduate anatomy courses in our teaching programme has also been great fun.'

Research focus:
a) Biological
The mechanisms underlying cell movement and tissue assembly in the vertebrate embryo. In particular the understanding of the origins, patterning and cellular interactions of developing musculoskeletal tissues.
'The research environment that has been created at Brighton and Sussex Medical School is excellent. The new research facilities are first-class and the presence of well established and enthusiastic developmental biology groups at Sussex is enabling my research programme to grow.'
b) Pedagogical
Developing the ability of students to communicate with different audiences using a variety of different modes and a focus on anatomy.
'Being part of a new medical school has enabled me to introduce innovative teaching practices that focus on developing various communication and academic skills of our students.'

Current biological research:
A central problem in understanding the process of vertebrate development is defining the mechanisms responsible for the spatial and temporal generation and organisation of embryonic tissues. Understanding how tissues form during development will hopefully provides clues as to how tissues might be manipulated to repair themselves following injury or disease.

Skeletal muscle development has proved an excellent model system for studying these ‘patterning’ events, due in part to its accessibility within the developing embryo and the ability to examine muscle cell behaviour in culture. Our current research into muscle development focuses on how muscle tissue is formed and becomes part of a functional musculoskeletal unit. We are in particular looking at the interaction and movement of different cell populations during muscle formation.

Cartilage fails to regenerate itself following injury or disease and so research for many years has been directed at promoting cartilage tissue repair and developing tissue replacements. These studies have unfortunately proved largely unsuccessful and therefore much research is still needed in this very important area. We are currently examining the capacity of a stem cell-like population of cells in the embryo called neural crest cells to contribute to the formation and repair of cartilage.

Tendon is another tissue that is very prone to injury, particularly in athletes, and also has a poor ability to repair itself. We are investigating the behaviour and commitment of the cells that make up tendon to see if we can find cell characteristics that will enable us to encourage tissue repair. The project again uses development as a model and focuses on identifying whether precursor cells are plastic in their ability to integrate into developing and repairing tissues.

Additional projects within the lab include the examination of:

• the interactions between early populations of cells during craniofacial development, with a particular emphasis on the way cells become integrated into different tissue types.
• the contributions of embryonic cell populations to the formation to musculoskeletal structures such as the vertebrae, ribs and associated connective tissues.
• the involvement of particular molecular signals that control the formation of cartilage within the developing limb, focussing on cells that gives rise to initial cartilage template.

Current pedagogical research:
Communication is of central importance in creating understanding and relevance of science and medicine within the general population and I passionately believe that students as future doctors or healthcare workers are ideally placed to highlight and explain aspects of medicine to the public. I have used my own teaching practice to examine ways of incorporating opportunities for students to develop their communication skills and have chosen a patient-centred approach. Some of this work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at major international meetings.
Novel approaches have included:

• the design of patient-focused information leaflets.
• the construction of ‘lay’ statements as ‘mock’ patient letters, newspaper articles or online information.
• the presentation of health-related issues in the form of a television report or interview.

These approaches are designed to stimulate students into thinking about how to provide accessible information to different audiences and have provided an opportunity for students to develop professional competence through critical thinking and self-reflection.
 
Key/recent publications:
Review articles and editorials:

Molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the generation of fiber diversity during myogenesis. Wigmore PM and Evans DJR. 2002. Int. Rev. Cytol. 216: 175-232.

Mechanical influences on skeletal muscle tissue and its development. Evans DJR. 2002. Eur. J. Morph. 40: 261-266

Craniofacial development: The tissue and molecular interactions that control development of the head. Francis-West PH, Robson L, Evans DJR. 2003. Adv. Anat. Embryol. Cell. 169: 1-144.

Clinical Dysmorphologies: Understanding congenital abnormalities. Davies DP and Evans DJR. 2003. Curr. Paed. 13: 288-297.

Skeletal muscle translocation in vertebrates. Evans DJR, Valasek P, Schmidt C, Patel K. 2006. Anat. Embryol. 211: 43-50.

Full papers:

Spatial and temporal contribution of somitic myoblasts to avian limb muscles. Rees E, Young RD, Evans DJR 2003. Dev. Biol. 253: 264-278.

Tendon morphogenesis in the developing avian limb: plasticity of fetal tendon fibroblasts. Oldfield SF and Evans DJR 2003. J. Anat. 202: 153-164.
Origins and re-segmentation of the thoracic ribs. Evans DJR. 2003. Dev. Biol. 256: 115-127.

Wnt signalling regulates myogenic differentiation in the developing avian limb. Anakwe K, Robson L, Hadley J, Buxton P, Church V, Allen S, Hartmann C, Harfe B, Nohno T, Brown AMC, Evans DJR and Francis-West PH. 2003. Development 130: 3503-3514.

The surface of articular cartilage contains a progenitor cell population. Dowthwaite GP, Bishop JC, Redman SN, Khan IM, Rooney P, Evans DJR, Bowyer S, Haughton L, Bayram Z, Boyer S, Thompson B, Wolf MS and Archer CW. 2004. J. Cell Sci. 117: 889-897.

Quantitative changes of Pax7+ve and MF20+ve myogenic cells during chick myogenesis. Lee ASJ, Zhang M, Evans DJR. 2004. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 48: 31-38.
A dual fate of the hindlimb muscle mass: cloacal/ perineal musculature develops from leg muscle cells.

Valasek P, Evans DJR, Maina F, Grim M, Patel K. 2005 Development 132: 447-458.
Provision of anatomical teaching in a new British medical school: Getting the right mix. Evans DJR, Watt DW. 2005. Anat. Rec. 284B: 22-27.

Spatial relations between avian craniofacial neural crest and paraxial mesoderm. Evans DJR, Noden DM. 2006. Develop. Dyn. 235: 1310-1325.

Radial nerve contribution to brachialis in the Caucasian population: position is predictable based on surface landmarks. Blackburn SC, Wood CPJ, Evans DJR, Watt DJ. 2007. Clin. Anat. 20:64-67

The role of the anatomist in communicating anatomy to a lay audience. Evans DJR. 2007. Eur. J. Anat. 11:227-231

Writing for the lay person – developing medical student communication skills. Evans DJR. 2008. Anat. Sci. Ed. 1:41-45

Designing a clinical skills programme: a partnership between students, patients and faculty. Evans DJR, Canavan A. 2008. Int. J. Clin Skills. 2:130-134.

The training of the next generation of anatomy teachers. Fraher J and Evans DJR. 2009. Anat. Sci. Ed.2:119-125. 

Notch receptor and Notch ligand expression in the developing cartilage. Williams R, Nelson L, Dowthwaite G, Evans DJR, Archer CW. 2009. J. Anat. 215:159-169.

Near-peer teaching in anatomy: an approach for deeper learning. Evans DJR, Cuffe T. 2009. Anat. Sci. Ed. (in press).

Current/recent laboratory funding:

• Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC)
• Wellcome Trust
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• George John Livanos Charitable Trust

Active collaborations:
National:

• Dr Peter Wigmore (Nottingham University). Investigating the mechanisms involved in muscle fibre assembly during development and regeneration.
• Prof Charlie Archer (Cardiff University). Investigating the role of delta-notch during chondrogenesis in the chick.
• Prof Ketan Patel ( Reading University). Translocation of muscle precursors during embryonic development.

International:

• Dr Ming Zhang (Otago University, New Zealand). The role of different myoblast populations during skeletal myogenesis.
• Prof Drew Noden (Cornell University, USA).
  Investigating the cellular interactions between mesoderm and neural crest cell populations during craniofacial development

Lab members:

• Rachael Stanley
• Petr Valasek (based in Reading)
• Rebecca Williams (based in Cardiff)
• Sophie Ainsworth (past member)
• Julia Horwood (past member)
• Julia Hadley (past member)
• Elaine Rees (past member)
• Sarah Oldfield (past member)
• Antonio Lee (past member)

Professional Society Membership:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (FRMS)
• Member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI)
• Member of the American Association of Anatomists (AAA)
• Member of the Institute of Biology (CBiol, MIBiol)
• Member of the Society for Developmental Biology - USA
• Member of the British Society for Developmental Biology
• Member of the Institute of Biomedical Science (MIBMS)
• Foundation member of Academy of Medical Educators

Other information:

• Member of the Academic Careers Committee (non-clinical) of the Academy of Medical Sciences
• Current External Examiner, (BDS) at Queen Mary’s London.
• Previous External Examinerships  (Biology Degree Programmes) at Southampton University (BDS) at King’s College London, (Biomedical Degree Programmes) at Queen’s University Belfast
• Member of Editorial Board of ‘Developmental Dynamics’