| Authorised form of name | Burnstock; Geoffrey (1929 - 2020) |
| Dates | 1929 - 2020 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Place of birth | London, England |
| Date of birth | 10/05/1929 |
| Date of death | 02/06/2020 |
| Occupation | Neurobiologist |
| Research field | Biochemistry |
| Neurosciences |
| Pharmacology |
| Physiology |
| Adenosine triphosphate |
| Purines-receptors |
| Activity | Career:
Senior Lectureship (1959), Professor and Chairman of Zoology (1964), Melbourne University; Head of Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology and Convenor of the Center of Neuroscience, University College London (1975); President of the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience; editor in chief of the scientific journal 'Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical'; editor in chief of the journal 'Purinergic Signalling'; President of the Autonomic Neuroscience Centre, University College London Medical School, Royal Free Campus (1997)
Memberships:
Australian Academy of Sciences (1971); FMedSci (1988); Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (1999); Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (2000)
Medals/Awards:
Australian Academy of Science's Macfarlane Burnet Medal 2017
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/03/1986 |
| Age at election | 56 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 2000 |
| PublishedWorks | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8152-7979 |
| OtherInfo | Geoffrey Burnstock made major contributions to our knowledge of the structure, function and pharmacology of the autonomic nervous system. In 1972, Geoffrey presented a hypothesis that ATP is a neurotransmitter involved in non-cholinergic, non-adrenergic transmission in the gut and bladder, and coined the term ‘purinergic transmission’.
In 1976, he made the novel proposal that nerves may release more than one transmitter and that ATP is a co-transmitter in most peripheral and central neurons. In 1978, he identified separate purinergic receptors (purinoceptors) for adenosine (P1) and ATP (P2) and, in 1985, P2X and P2Y subclasses. Cloning experiments confirmed P2X (ionotropic) and P2Y (metabotropic) receptors. Purinergic signalling was shown to be important in control of vascular tone and remodelling, bone, kidney, lung and bladder function, mechanosensory transduction and embryonic development.
Later emphasis was on translational research together with clinicians and industry to examine the pathophysiology and therapeutic potential of purinergic drugs for the treatment of disease, including thrombosis, pain, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, atherosclerosis, chronic cough, gut, bladder, kidney and bone disorders and cancer.
Professor Geoffrey Burnstock AC FMedSci FRS died on 2 June 2020. |
| Source | Sources:
https://royalsociety.org/people/geoffrey-burnstock-11170/ (8/6/2020)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate (8/6/2020)
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ani/prof-GB.htm, Geoffrey Burnstock's sculpture (8/6/2020) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/94030305 |
| Code | NA6184 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| GLB/65/12 | Geoffrey Burnstock | September 1964 - July 1970 |
| IM/000107 | Anniversary Day 2000 | 2000 |
| EC/1986/05 | Burnstock, Geoffrey: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1984 |
| IM/000687 | Burnstock, Geoffrey | 2000 |
| IM/003045 | Medallists 2000 | 2000 |