William Wisden is a neuroscientist working on sleep. Bill did a PhD with Stephen Hunt at the MRC Molecular Neurobiology Unit in Cambridge and post-doctoral work with Peter Seeburg at the University of Heidelberg. Bill’s contributions impact across molecular, circuit and behavioural neuroscience.
Bill was at the centre of studies characterising gene families for GABA and glutamate receptors, and in linking immediate-early genes with long-term potentiation. Later, Bill and colleagues discovered GABA and glutamate circuitries that promote wakefulness, control sleep preparatory behaviours, track sleep need, co-regulate sleep and body temperature, and respond to psychosocial stress to induce beneficial sleep. Overall, Bill's work has contributed to core knowledge on how brain cells communicate, and how they generate sleep and wakefulness. He continues to research the function of sleep.
Bill is currently Chair of Molecular Neuroscience at Imperial College London, and a member of the UK Dementia Research Institute. He is also a Member of the Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professional position
- Chair of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London
Subject groups
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Molecules of Life
Biochemistry and molecular biology
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Multicellular Organisms
Animal (especially mammalian) and human physiology and anatomy (non-clinical), Behavioural neuroscience, Cellular neuroscience, Pharmacology (non-clinical), Physiology incl biophysics of cells (non-clinical), Physiology and medicine (non-clinical)
