Professor David Lambert

Distinctions
Major Awards
• 2002 Humphry Davy Medal; The Royal College of Anaesthetists.
• 2003 Elected to an eponymous professorship; The Royal College of Anaesthetists. 
• 2008 FRCA by election-first of two non-clinicians to be elected.
• 2014 Association of Anaesthetists Foundation Award.
• 2017 Mapleson Medal (Anaesthetic Research Society).
• 2018 Elected Fellow British Pharmacological Society.

Visiting Professorships
• 1998, 2001-present Visiting Professor to The University of Hirosaki, Japan
• 2004 Visiting Professor to The University of Kyushu, Japan
• 2014 Visiting Professor to The University of Kufa, Iraq
• 2017 Honorary Professor Hubei University of Medicine, China.

Journal activities
• Have been associate and full section editor, administration Director and now chair the board of The British Journal of Anaesthesia. 
• Foundation Grants Officer National Institute for Academic Anaesthesia (2007-2017).
• British Journal of Anaesthesia Co-opt to Council of Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Consultancies/Directorships
• 2003-2004, Pfizer Veterinary Medicine
• 2010-2013, Grunenthal
• 2015-present, Non-Exec Director Cellomatics Biosciences, Nottingham, UK.

Professor Lambert has an opioid career spanning >30y. As a non-clinician in a clinical environment his work is translational. His most recent clinical activity was with National consensus guidelines for perioperative use of opioids. As chair of BJA board and a member of RCoA council he has access to key decision makers in UK and wider via European equivalent societies. His opioid research is focussed on (i) opioid relevant ‘diseases’ e.g., pain and sepsis. (ii) Structure activity relationships to develop opioid ligands but is best known for work on NOP. Indeed, he has described a number of peptide and non-peptide agonists and antagonists that are now standard tools in NOP pharmacology including two new fluorescent peptides for MOP and NOP. These have been deployed in tissues with ultra low expression where radioligands are not useful. (iii) Describing the role of non-selective opioids in disease to reduce side effect profile; MOP-DOP and MOP-NOP. 

Current research is funded by British Heart Foundation and British Journal of Anaesthesia.

Professor DG Lambert Selected Publications 2016-. (Google Scholar: Cites 10,357; h-index 53; i10-index 202)

Giakomidi, D, Bird MF, McDonald J, Marzola E, Guerrini R, Chanoch S, Sabu N, Horley B, Calo G, Lambert DG. Evaluation of [Cys(ATTO 488)8]Dermorphin-NH2 as a novel tool for the study of mu-opioid peptide receptors. PLoS One. 2021;16(4): e0250011.

Piekielna-Ciesielska J, Artali R, Azzam AA, Lambert DG, Kluczyk A, Gentilucci L, Janecka A. Pharmacological Characterization of µ-Opioid Receptor Agonists with Biased G Protein or β-Arrestin Signaling, and Computational Study of Conformational Changes during Receptor Activation. Molecules. 2021;26(1) article-13. 10.3390/molecules26010013.

Neto JA, , Costanzini A, De Giorgio R, Lambert DG, Ruzza C, Calo G. Biased versus Partial Agonism in the Search for Safer Opioid Analgesics. Molecules. 2021;25(17) article-3870. 10.3390/molecules25173870.

Azzam AAH, McDonald J, Lambert DG. Hot topics in opioid pharmacology: mixed and biased opioids. Br J Anaesth. 2019;122:e136-e145. 

Calo G, Lambert DG. Nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor ligands and translational challenges: focus on cebranopadol as an innovative analgesic. Br J Anaesth. 2018;121(5):1105-1114. 

Bird MF, Guerrini R, Willets JM, Thompson JP, Caló G, Lambert DG. Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) conjugated to ATTO594: a novel fluorescent probe for the N/OFQ (NOP) receptor. Br J Pharm. 2018;175(24):4496-4506. 

Dietis N, Niwa H, Tose R, McDonald J, Ruggieri V, Filaferro M, Vitale G, Micheli L, Ghelardini C, Salvadori S, Calo G, Guerrini R, Rowbotham DJ, Lambert DG. In vitro and in vivo characterization of the bifunctional μ and δ opioid receptor ligand UFP-505. Br J Pharm. 2018;175:2881-2896. 

Cerlesi MC, Ding H, Bird MF, Kiguchi N, Ferrari F, Malfacini D, Rizzi A, Ruzza C, Lambert DG, Ko MC, Calo G, Guerrini R. Pharmacological studies on the NOP and  opioid receptor agonist PWT2-[Dmt(1)]N/OFQ(1-13). Eur J Pharmacol. 2017;794:115-126.

Singh SR, Sullo N, Matteis M, Spaziano G, McDonald J, Saunders R, Woodman L, Urbanek K, De Angelis A, De Palma R, Berair R, Pancholi M, Mistry V, Rossi F, Guerrini R, Calò G, D'Agostino B, Brightling CE, Lambert DG. Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) modulates immunopathology and airway hyperresponsiveness representing a novel target for the treatment of asthma. Br J Pharm. 2016;173(8):1286-301.

Lambert DG. The nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor: a target with broad therapeutic potential. Nature reviews Drug discovery. 2008;7:694-710. (top 1% in Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Topics related to opioids and opioid receptors (pain sepsis and cancer applications). Other areas of receptor pharmacology so please make contact to discuss

Biol Sci
1. BS3059.
2. Project students.
3. MSc Chronic Disease and Inflammation.

Med School
1. Clinical Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Introduction to Prescribing (CPT) Unit in year 2 MBChB

Opioids pain sepsis.