Stuart Brierley

Stuart Brierley

Adelaide Medical School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Prof Stuart Brierley is Director of the Visceral Pain Research Group, Director of the Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology, and Co-Theme leader of the Lifelong Health theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). He is an NHMRC Investigator L1 recipient (2022-26) and received an NHMRC Research Excellence Award for being the top ranked NHMRC CDFII fellow in the 2016 round. He is an international expert in the ‘gut-brain axis’ and chronic visceral pain mechanisms. His research comprises discovery and translational science investigating the nerve pathways innervating visceral organs to determine the causes of, and treatments for, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder pain syndrome and endometriosis. His research focuses on the role of different nerve pathways innervating the viscera, the channels and receptors underlying their function, the influence of the immune system, and how these mechanisms are changed during acute and chronic visceral pain.

Prof Brierley has a strong track record in coordinating and working in multi-faceted research programs for high-impact publications in journals such as Nature (x3), Cell, Nature Communications, Gastroenterology (x6), Gut (x10), PNAS, JCI Insight (x3), Pain (x10), J Neuroscience (x2), and has invited reviews in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology Hepatology (x2), Annual Reviews of Physiology, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, and Trends in Biomedical Sciences.

Prof Brierley has been awarded 4 NHMRC Fellowships (Investigator, CDF II; CDF I; Peter Doherty ECF), is CIA on an NHMRC Development Grant (2022-24). He has been CI on 13 NHMRC Project grants (since 2004), two recently completed NIH grants (as part of the HEAL/SPARC scheme) and two ARC Discovery grants.

He also has a strong track record of industry collaboration. His recent collaborations with Industry partners identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug, linaclotide, in treating patient with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C). Linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase-C (GC-C) agonist is effective in relieving abdominal pain associated with IBS-C and is already available and registered for use by IBS-C patients in the USA and Europe.

Email: stuart.brierley@sahmri.com

Research Interests

MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF ABDOMINAL PAIN: CAUSES AND CURES.

For most people pain normally serves as an alarm that is activated in response to tissue damage. However, for people who suffer from chronic or long term pain, it does not subside and can in fact worsen over time. Clinically, chronic pain is a major unresolved worldwide problem.

A/Prof Brierley's research focuses on pain arising from the gut with particular emphasis on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In Australia IBS effects up to 15% of the population and although chronic pain is debilitating and significantly reduces a patient's quality of life there is no effective treatment. This research determines the mechanisms responsible for detecting painful events in the gut and how they change during acute and chronic conditions. It is clear that certain mechanisms are reprogrammed during chronic pain, which fail to "reset" back to normal. Overall, understanding how these mechanisms are changed is the first step in finding new therapeutic treatments for gut based pain.

Key aspects of gut based pain are discussed in Prof Brierley’s talk at the “Research Tuesday” free public seminar series at the University of Adelaide. Please see link below.

http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/researchtuesdays/2012/01/19/get-your-stomach-in-mint-condition/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6_jjEPLKe4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqvjPAR4Xhc

 

Teaching Interests

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR MOTIVATED, OUTSTANDING APPLICANTS FOR HONOURS, MSC AND PHD POSITIONS:

1) TRP channels: Critical targets for the treatment of chronic visceral pain.

This project will investigate TRP channels in colonic sensory neurons, determine their mechano and chemosensory properties, and how their function changes across acute and chronic pain models. We will determine how TRP expression is altered in tissue from human patients with chronic visceral, thereby linking TRP levels with symptoms. Project funded by NHMRC Australia.

2) Other Projects:
 Several additional projects are available that we are happy to discuss with potential HDR students. These projects focus on other pain targets and are also funded by NHMRC Australia. Contact: stuart.brierley@adelaide.edu.au for details.

Techniques that students will perform include: electrophysiological afferent fibre recordings, patch clamp recordings, neuronal labeling, laser capture microdissection, QRT-PCR, tissue collection.

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2023 - ongoing Co-Theme leader of the Lifelong Health theme SAHMRI
    2023 - ongoing Director of the Visceral Pain Research Group SAHMRI
    2022 - ongoing NHMRC Investigator Leadership Fellow SAHMRI
    2020 - ongoing Director of the Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology SAHMRI
    2019 - 2023 Professor Flinders University
    2017 - 2021 NHMRC R.D. Wright Biomedical Fellow (CDF II) Flinders University
    2015 - ongoing Associate Professor University of Adelaide
    2013 - 2016 NHMRC R.D. Wright Biomedical Fellow (CDF 1) University of Adelaide
    2008 - 2012 NHMRC Australian Biomedical “Peter Doherty” Fellowship University of Adelaide
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2020 Distinction President Australasian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association (ANGMA). Australia -
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    University of Adelaide Australia PhD

Research Funding

NHMRC AUSTRALIA:

i) Current:

2022-2026: Prof Stuart M. Brierley. NHMRC Investigator (L1) Grant. “Identifying the underlying causes and discovering novel therapeutic treatments for chronic visceral pain (CVP)”. APP2008727. AUD $2,173,555.00

2022-2024: NHMRC Development Grant (APP2014250). (AUD $998,858.88). Chief Investigators: Prof Stuart M Brierley, Prof Glenn King. “Developing a first-in-class therapeutic for chronic visceral pain using venom derived peptides”
 

ii) Previous:

2020-2023: U01 NS113869 (SPARC/HEAL) (USD$ 2,536,899). CIs: Prof David Julius, Prof Holly Ingraham, Dr James Bayrer, Prof Stuart Brierley “Mapping gut-spinal cord connections in visceral pain”

2020-2023: U01 NS113871 (SPARC/HEAL) (USD$ 2,159,613) CIs: Prof Million Mulugeta, Prof Stuart Brierley, Prof Evgeniy Kreydin, Dr Muriel Larauche, Dr Lixin Wang, Prof Reggie Edgerton, “Structural and functional mapping of visceral pain afferent neurocircuitries of the colorectum and bladder in preclinical models”

2019-2022: NHMRC Project grant. APP1156427 (AUD $988,243). Chief Investigators: N.J. Spencer, Prof Stuart M Brierley, V. Zagorodnyuk & A Harrington. “Silencing visceral pain pathways using novel optogenetic techniques in vivo” 

2018-2020: ARC Discovery Project: DP180101395. (AUS$331,000). Chief Investigators: Dr Andrea Harrington, A/Prof Stuart M. Brierley, A/Prof Stuart Mazzone, A/Prof Grigori Rychkov. “Central pathways regulating visceral pain”

2017-2020: A/Prof Stuart M. Brierley, NHMRC R.D Wright Fellowship (Level 2). APP1126378 (AUD $470,144).
“Identifying the underlying causes of chronic visceral pain and discovering novel therapeutic treatments”.  Top ranked CDF II in the 2016 round.

2018-2020: NHMRC Project Grant APP1139366.  (AUD $696,808.50). Chief Investigators: A/Prof Stuart M Brierley, Prof Richard Lewis, A/Prof Irina Vetter, A/Prof Grigori Rychkov. “Silencing visceral nociceptors by targeting NaV1.1: A novel therapeutic approach for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome”

2018-2020:  NHMRC Project Grant #APP1140297.  (AUD $720,585.00). Chief Investigators: A/Prof Stuart M Brierley, Prof David Grundy, Prof Nick Spencer. “Is overactive bladder a 'Bladder itch'? Identification of itch specific pathways within the bladder?”

2015-2018: NHMRC Project Grant APP#1083480. (AUS$873,233). Chief Investigators. A/Prof Stuart M Brierley, Dr Daniel Poole, Prof Martin Steinhoff. "Is abdominal discomfort a colonic itch?"

2014-2017: NHMRC Project Grant APP#1063803 (AUS$660,558). Chief Investigators: Prof Paul Alewood, Dr Stuart M Brierley. "Stable oxytocin analogues - potential treatment for irritable bowel syndrome"

2013-2016: Dr Stuart M. Brierley, NHMRC R.D Wright Fellowship (Level 1). APP1052340 (AUD $397,724). “Determining mechanisms and treatments for chronic visceral pain”. 

2013-2015: NHMRC Project Grant #APP1049928. (AUS $665,267.85). Chief Investigators: Prof David Adams, Dr Stuart M Brierley, Prof David Craik. "GABA(B) Receptor Modulation of Gastrointestinal Function in Health and Disease by Alpha-Conotoxins"

2013-2015: NHMRC Project Grant #APP1049682. (AUS $351,173.55). Chief Investigators: Prof Nigel Bunnett, Dr Graeme Cottrell, Dr Stuart M Brierley. "Mechanisms of protease-driven visceral pain"

2012-2014: NHMRC Project Grant #APP1023972. (AUS $603,375). Chief Investigators: A/Prof Amanda Page, Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, Prof Gary Wittert, Dr Stuart M. Brierley. "The role of adipokines in modulation of gastric vagal afferent satiety signals".

2011-2013: NHMRC Project Grant #APP1008100. (AUS $436,299). Chief Investigators: Dr Stuart M. Brierley, Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, A/Prof Grigori Y. Rychkov. "Ion channels underlying inflammatory and post-inflammatory visceral mechanical hypersensitivity"

2010-2012: NHMRC Project Grant #626960. (AUS $548,026). Chief Investigators: Dr Stuart M. Brierley, Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, Prof Gerald Holtmann. "Viscerosensory neuroimmune interactions".

2008-2012: Dr Stuart M. Brierley, NHMRC Australian Biomedical “Peter Doherty” Fellowship.  (APP497803) “Interaction of TRP channels and inflammatory mediators: A critical role in visceral pain”. (AUD $274,000).

2008-2010: NHMRC Project Grant #508103. (AUS $641,000). Chief Investigators: Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, Dr Stuart M. Brierley, Dr Grigori Y. Rychkov, Prof Gerald Holtmann. "Transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) as transducers and targets in primary visceral afferents".

2006-2008: NHMRC Project Grant #399324. (AUS $602,250). Chief Investigators: Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, Prof Simon Brookes, Dr Stuart M. Brierley, Dr Amanda J Page. "How does inflammation of the gut change its sensory innervation?"

2004-2006: NHMRC Project Grant #298942. (AUS $249,750). Chief Investigators: A/Prof L. Ashley Blackshaw, Dr Amanda J Page, Dr Stuart M. Brierley. "Mechanisms of mechanotransduction in primary visceral afferents".

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2016 - 2022 Principal Supervisor The Role of Itch-Mediating Receptors and Channels in the Mouse Urinary Bladder Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ashlee Megan Caldwell
    2015 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Role of Voltage-gated Sodium Channel Isoforms in Electrophysiological Properties of Neurons Innervating the Viscera in Mice Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Andelain Erickson

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