Associate Professor Peter Shortland

Academic Program Advisor - Medical Science, School of Science,
Medical Sciences

Associate Professor in Human Anatomy,
Medical Sciences

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Supervision
Teaching

Biography

Peter Shortland gained his BSc. in Zoology from Bristol University in 1985 and did his PhD at Uinversity College London under the tutelage of Professors Pat Wall, Clifford Woolf and Maria Fitzgerald and his research focussed on the neuroplasticity of primary afferents following peripheral nerve injury. He graduated in 1990. From 1990-94 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in plasticity of primary afferents after in various models of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury in the UK, the USA (St. Louis University and Washington University). Ifrom 1994-1996 he was the receipient of an International postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. In 1996 he became a lecturer in Anatomy at Queen Mary University of London, part of the Bart's & London School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2004, he was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience. In 2013 he was recrited to the School of Science and Health as an Associate Professor in Human Anatomy.

His research interests are centred on mechanisms of acute and chronic pain, primarily of cutaneous origin, but also of musculoskeletal, trigeminal and visceral origin. Peter has been investigating the effects of spinal root avulsion injuries (both dorsal and ventral root) and how they contribute to avulsion injury pain such as occurs in brachial plexus or cauda equina injuries. The emphasis is on the synaptic rearrangements, phenotypic plasticity, glial and vascular responses and neuronal survival mechanisms that contribute to the functional rewiring of central nervous system circuits after such injuries. The ultimate aim is to be able to identify the molecular mechanisms/factors that are responsible for the abnormal responses to injury, to reduce/alleviate the associated neuropathic pain and to try to restore normal function after such injuries using growth factor or other pharmacological agents alone or in combination with surgical strategies. He continues to work on the functional consequences of peripheral nerve the mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain that results from these injuries or other injuries such as cancer induced peripheral neuropathy. Recent work has also focussed on mechanisms involved in demyelination using the cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis via proteomic and histological analyses of the brain.

This information has been contributed by Associate Professor Shortland.

Qualifications

PhD University of London
BSc Bristol University (UK)

Professional Memberships

International Association for the Study of Pain (2016)
Society for Neuroscience (2006 - 2018)
Australian Pain Society (2022)

Interests

Brachial plexus/spinal root injury
Pain
Peripheral nerve injury
Somatosensory processing
Spinal Cord/CNS Injury

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

Medical Sciences
Medical Sciences

Contact

Email:	P.Shortland@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:	(02) 4620 3804
Mobile:
Location:	21.1.26 Campbelltown

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Teaching

Previous Teaching Areas

300326 Topics in Physiology, 2016
300754 Neuroanatomy, 2022
300851 Advanced Physiology, 2022
300894 Anatomy of the Thorax and Abdomen, 2014
400869 Human Anatomy and Physiology 2, 2014
400881 Functional Anatomy, 2013
NATS1009 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1, 2016
NATS2034 Human Systems Physiology 1, 2022

Publications

Journal Articles

Sen, M., Mahns, D., Coorsen, J., Shortland, P. and Shortland, P. (2022), 'The roles of microglia and astrocytes in phagocytosis and myelination : insights from the cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis', Glia, vol 70, no 7 , pp 1215 - 1250.
Almuslehi, M., Sen, M., Shortland, P., Mahns, D. and Coorssen, J. (2022), 'Histological and top-down proteomic analyses of the visual pathway in the cuprizone demyelination model', Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, vol 72, no 6 , pp 1374 - 1401.
Kiriaev, L., Perry, B., Mahns, D., Shortland, P., Redwan, A., Morley, J. and Head, S. (2021), 'Minocycline treatment reduces mass and force output from fast-twitch mouse muscles and inhibits myosin production in C2C12 myotubes', Frontiers in Physiology, vol 12 .
Sen, M., Almuslehi, M., Shortland, P., Mahns, D. and Coorssen, J. (2021), 'Proteomics of Multiple Sclerosis : inherent issues in defining the pathoetiology and identifying (early) biomarkers', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol 22, no 14 .
Sen, M., Almuslehi, M., Coorssen, J., Mahns, D. and Shortland, P. (2020), 'Behavioural and histological changes in cuprizone-fed mice', Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, vol 87 , pp 508 - 523.
Pather, N., Blyth, P., Champan, J., Dayal, M., Flack, N., Fogg, Q., Green, R., Hulme, A., Johnson, I., Meyer, A., Morley, J., Shortland, P., Strkalj, G., Strkalj, M., Valter, K., Webb, A., Woodley, S. and Lazarus, M. (2020), 'Forced disruption of anatomy education in Australia and New Zealand : an acute response to the Covid-19 pandemic', Anatomical Sciences Education, vol 13, no 3 , pp 284 - 300.
Almuslehi, M., Sen , M., Shortland, P., Mahns, D. and Coorssen, J. (2020), 'CD8 T-cell recruitment into the central nervous system of cuprizone-fed mice : relevance to modelling the etiology of Multiple Sclerosis', Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, vol 14 .
Sen, M., Almuslehi, M., Shortland, P., Coorsen, J. and Mahns, D. (2020), 'Revisiting the pathoetiology of Multiple Sclerosis : has the tail been wagging the mouse?', Frontiers in Immunology, vol 11 .
Gebremedhn, E., Shortland, P. and Mahns, D. (2019), 'Variability of oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic pain symptoms in each cycle and its implications on the management of colorectal cancer patients : a retrospective study in South Western Sydney Local Health District Hospitals, Sydney, Australia', Journal of Oncology, vol 2019 .
Sen, M., Mahns, D., Coorssen, J. and Shortland, P. (2019), 'Behavioural phenotypes in the cuprizone model of central nervous system demyelination', Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, vol 107 , pp 23 - 46.
Sen, M., Almuslehi, M., Gyengesi, E., Myers, S., Shortland, P., Mahns, D. and Coorssen, J. (2019), 'Suppression of the peripheral immune system limits the central immune response following cuprizone-feeding : relevance to modelling Multiple Sclerosis', Cells, vol 8, no 11 .
Gebremedhn, E., Shortland, P. and Mahns, D. (2018), 'The incidence of acute oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy and its impact on treatment in the first cycle : a systematic review', BMC Cancer, vol 18 .
Konig, N., Trolle, C., Kapuralin, K., Adameyko, I., Mitrecic, D., Aldskogius, H., Shortland, P. and Kozlova, E. (2017), 'Murine neural crest stem cells and embryonic stem cell-derived neuron precursors survive and differentiate after transplantation in a model of dorsal root avulsion', Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, vol 11 , pp 129 - 137.
Samour, M., Nagi, S., Shortland, P. and Mahns, D. (2017), 'Minocycline prevents muscular pain hypersensitivity and cutaneous allodynia produced by repeated intramuscular injections of hypertonic saline in healthy human participants', The Journal of Pain, vol 18, no 8 , pp 994 - 1005.
Samour, M., Shaikh, S., Mahns, D. and Shortland, P. (2017), 'Noxious, but not innocuous, thermal stimuli evoke pERK expression in dorsal horn neurons after spared nerve injury in adult rats', Neuroscience Letters, vol 654 , pp 49 - 55.
Shaikh, S., Shortland, P., Lauto, A., Barton, M., Morley, J. and Mahns, D. (2016), 'Sensory perturbations using suture and sutureless repair of transected median nerve in rats', Somatosensory and Motor Research, vol 33, no 1 , pp 20 - 28.
Shortland, P. and Mahns, D. (2016), 'Differing roles for parvalbumin neurons after nerve injury', Neural Regeneration Research, vol 11, no 8 , pp 1241 - 1242.
Sahemey, R., Malliaras, P., Lewis, J., Michael, G., Shortland, P., Morrissey, D. and Maffulli, N. (2016), 'Tendinopathic supraspinatus tenocytes may have a neuroendocrine-like function, secreting CGRP, SP and VEGF : a pilot immunohistochemistry study', Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents, vol 30, no 4 (S1) , pp 219 - 227.
Jacquin, M., Arends, J., Renehan, W., Waite, P. and Shortland, P. (2015), 'Whisker-related circuitry in the trigeminal nucleus principalis : topographic precision', Somatosensory and Motor Research, .
Hoeber, J., Trolle, C., Konig, N., Du, Z., Gallo, A., Hermans, E., Aldskogius, H., Shortland, P., Zhang, S., Deumens, R. and Kozlova, E. (2015), 'Human embryonic stem cell-derived progenitors assist functional sensory axon regeneration after dorsal root avulsion injury', Scientific Reports, vol 5 .
Cibert-Goton, V., Phillips, J. and Shortland, P. (2015), 'Vascular changes associated with spinal root avulsion injury', Somatosensory and Motor Research, vol 32, no 3 , pp 158 - 162.
Medici, T. and Shortland, P. (2015), 'Effects of peripheral nerve injury on parvalbumin expression in adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons', BMC Neuroscience, vol 16, no 1 .
Chew, D., Carlstedt, T. and Shortland, P. (2014), 'The effects of minocycline or riluzole treatment on spinal root avulsion-induced pain in adult rats', Journal of Pain, vol 15, no 6 , pp 664 - 675.
Phillips, J., Cibert-Goton, V., Langford, R. and Shortland, P. (2013), 'Perfusion assessment in rat spinal cord tissue using photoplethysmography and laser Doppler flux measurements', Journal of Biomedical Optics, vol 18, no 3 , pp 0370051 - 0370058.
Chew, D., Murrell, K., Carlstedt, T. and Shortland, P. (2013), 'Segmental spinal root avulsion in the adult rat: a model to study avulsion injury induced pain', Journal of Neurotrauma, vol 30, no 3 , pp 160 - 172.
Chew, D., Carlstedt, T. and Shortland, P. (2011), 'A comparative histological analysis of two models of nerve root avulsion injury in the adult rat', Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, vol 37, no 6 , pp 613 - 632.
Leinster, V., Robson, L. and Shortland, P. (2010), 'Differential effects of riluzole on subpopulations of adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons in vitro', Neuroscience, vol 166, no 3 , pp 942 - 951.
Averill, S., Inglis, J., King, V., Thompson, S., Cafferty, W., Shortland, P., Hunt, S., Kidd, B. and Priestley, J. (2008), 'Reg-2 expression in dorsal root ganglion neurons after adjuvant-induced monoarthritis', Neuroscience, vol 155, no 4 , pp 1227 - 1236.
Chew, D., Leinster, V., Sakthithasan, M., Robson, L., Carlstedt, T. and Shortland, P. (2008), 'Cell death after dorsal root injury', Neuroscience Letters, vol 433, no 3 , pp 231 - 234.
Hughes, A., Averill, S., King, V., Molander, C. and Shortland, P. (2008), 'Neurochemical characterization of neuronal populations expressing protein kinase C gamma isoform in the spinal cord and gracile nucleus of the rat', Neuroscience, vol 153, no 2 , pp 507 - 517.
Huang, W., Robson, D., Liu, M., King, V., Averill, S., Shortland, P. and Priestley, J. (2006), 'Spinal cord compression and dorsal root injury cause up-regulation of activating transcription factor-3 in large-diameter dorsal root ganglion neurons', European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 23, no 1 , pp 273 - 278.
Shortland, P., Leinster, V., White, W. and Robson, L. (2006), 'Riluzole promotes cell survival and neurite outgrowth in rat sensory neurons in vitro', European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 24, no 12 , pp 3343 - 3353.
Shortland, P., Baytug, B., Krzyzanowska, A., McMahon, S., Priestley, J. and Averill, S. (2006), 'ATF3 expression in L4 dorsal root ganglion neurons after L5 spinal nerve transection', European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 23, no 2 , pp 365 - 373.

Conference Papers

Sen, M., Shortland, P., Myers, S., Coorsen, J. and Mahns, D. (2017), 'Treatment with pertussis toxin does not induce a multiple sclerosis-like phenotype in cuprizone-treated mice', Society for Neuroscience. Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., Wash..

Current research focuses on alterations in somatosensory processing in dorsal root ganglion neurons and the spinal cord following peripheral nerve, spinal root or chemotherapy-induced injuries that often result in chronic neuropathic pain. The emphasis is on the synaptic rearrangements, phenotypic plasticity, glial and vascular responses and neuronal survival mechanisms that contribute to the functional rewiring of central nervous system circuits after such injuries and identifying novel ways to prevent or ameliorate their effects. Recent work has also focussed on mechanisms involved in demyelination using the cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis via proteomic and histological analyses of the brain.