Integrative Physiology (School of Medicine)
Research Program: Bioelectronics and Neuroscience

Biography

David Mahns is a Senior Lecturer in Integrative Physiology at the School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney. After completing his doctoral work in Cardiovascular Physiology (1999) David undertook post-doctoral work in sensory physiology under the direction of Professor Mark Rowe as a NHMRC research officer. In 2003 he was appointed as Lecturer & Course coordinator (2003-2006). In 2007 David was appointed as a senior lecturer in Integrative Physiology at the University of Western Sydney.

David specializes in quantifying the contribution of sensory nerves arising from skin and deep structures such as muscle and bone to perception. Recent work has focused on defining how we distinguish between non-painful (eg innocuous touch) and painful stimuli. These questions are addressed using psychophysical observations and detailed electrophysiological recording. In collaboration with Professor Macefield we are examining the contribution of different sensory nerves to the abnormal condition of allodynia where gentle touch is perceived painful.

Research Interests

• 2011-2013 Pleasure & Pain: Defining the origin and contextual boundaries - UWS Eminent Visitor Grant

• 2011-2013 Separation of discriminative and affective touch: A TMS study - UWS Infrastructure Grant

• 2010-2012 Neural mechanisms of muscle pain, referral and allodynia in humans - UWS Internal Grant

• 2007-2010 Neural Mechanism of bone pain - Funding NHMRC Project Grant

Qualifications and Honours

• Bachelor of Science (Physiology and Pharmacology, UNSW)

• Bachelor of Science Honours (Physiology, UNSW)  

• Doctor of Philosophy (Neurophysiology, UNSW)