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Dr. Huw Simon Jones

Lecturer in Drug Metabolism and Medical

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School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
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Dr. Huw Simon Jones

Biography

Huw Jones studied medical biochemistry, followed by a Masters in molecular mechanistic toxicology, at the University of Birmingham.  Following his PhD studies (investigating how zebrafish larvae metabolise drugs, University of Birmingham), he undertook post-doctoral positions at the University of Sheffield and the Hull York Medical School (University of Hull).  Having spent 4 years as a lecturer in biochemistry at the University of Hull, he is now a Lecturer in drug metabolism and medical biochemistry at the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, and leads the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) team in the Institute for Cancer Therapeutics.

Research

Dr Jones' research interests are focused on:

- The pharmacology of natural products (particularly dietary polyphenols) in health and disease states, with a particular focus on the modulation of oxidative stress and RONS signalling in diseases associated with ageing.

- The pharmacokinetics of drugs.

- Novel methods for the synthesis of drug metabolites and modelling of drug metabolism.

- Development of more robust methods for measuring RONS species and their reaction products with cellular macromolecules.


A key cornerstone of his research is using physiologically-relevant test compound exposures in in vitro systems.  This involves ensuring that (i) the amount of test compound cells are exposed to is comparable to concentrations detected in vivo, (ii) that the duration of exposure is similar to the time compounds are known to persist in vivo, and (iii) the test compound is in a relevant form (i.e. in a form that has been detected in vivo).  In order to adhere to these principles as much as possible, Dr Jones is interested in the pharmacokinetics of test compounds (at both a cellular and whole organism level), and methods that allow you to predict or generate compounds and data to inform in vitro testing approaches.  He applies this approach to understanding how natural products (especially polyphenols) can act as drugs.

Teaching

Dr Jones teaches on a wide range of modules across the Clinical Sciences degree programme, especially on subjects related to biochemistry.  He also contributes to the delivery of the MSc and MRes programmes within the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics.

Publications

  • Behaviour of Dietary Oligosaccharides in the Human Gastrointestinal Tract

    Fraser L. Courts, Liz K. Wells, Stephanie K. Allen, Huw S. Jones (2014) Oligosaccharides: Food Sources, Biological Roles and Health Implications. Nova Science Publishers, Inc..