Dr Richard Rainbow BSc PhD

I am "Science System Lead in Cardiology" for the MBChB Programme, so co-lead the first and second-year cardiology blocks. I am also involved in the final year Undergraduate Life Sciences Cardiovascular and Respiratory Pharmacology (Life313/401) module in which I teach the basics of cardiac electrophysiology, the pharmacology used in the treatment of arrhythmias, acute coronary syndromes, and future directions for putative cardioprotective interventions/drugs.

In Life330 I teach the basics of vasomotor control, including the fundamentals of vascular reactivity to constrictor and dilator compounds. I also develop this into the underlying pathophysiological changes that occur within blood vessels in hypertension and what tools are available for treating these disorders.

Ion channels are a fundamental part of every physiological or pathophysiological response in the body. Understanding the basics of ion channel behaviour can help in understanding normal physiological responses right through to complex diseases. I teach the measurements of ionic currents, and the mechanisms of channel behaviour together with how this couples to intracellular calcium homeostasis on several courses within the University of Liverpool, but also on an internationally attended electrophysiology workshop hosted at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, the site of pioneering electrophysiological measurements by Hodgkin and Huxley in the 1950's.