Dr. Hughes is currently an Assistant Professor at Duke University Medical Center working within the Department of Surgery and Division of Urology. He serves as the Director of the Urinary Dysfunction Laboratory which studies the role of inflammation in benign urology disorders such as bladder outlet obstruction and diabetic bladder dysfunction. In association with Dr. J Todd Purves, this lab has been instrumental in demonstrating the central importance of the NLRP3 inflammasome in sensing the biochemical stressors associated with these disorders and translating them into an inflammatory signal. This signal is ultimately responsible for changes in voiding function, denervation and fibrosis. This lab has also shown that NLRP3-mediated bladder inflammation is responsible for the development of psychosocial disorders during obstruction. Finally, they have been exploring the potential of Specialized Proresolution Mediators of inflammation, such as Annexin-A1, Lipoxins, Resolvins, Protectins and Maresions, to prevent deterioration and/or restore normal bladder function during obstruction and after deobstruction. Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina and was a post doc at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institutes of Health. He then joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he rose to an Associate Professor (with tenure). Following a brief stint as the director of the biology division of a start-up pharmaceutical company, he joined forces with Dr. Purves at the Medical University of South Carolina to begin this lab. Dr. Hughes has been at Duke since 2015.
Dr Francis "Monty" Hughes declared on the Monday 9th July 2018 that they did not have any existing or known future financial relationships or affiliations to disclose (NONE).
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