Stuart Cull-Candy is a neuroscientist who is distinguished for his long-standing and innovative work on fast excitatory synaptic signalling in the brain. As one of the pioneers of patch clamp studies of glutamate-activated ion channels, he has made many major contributions to our understanding of how glutamate — the most important transmitter in the brain — mediates signalling between nerve cells.

Stuart was among the first to analyse the biophysical and pharmacological properties of glutamate receptor channels. His studies have revealed many complexities of the different types of glutamate receptor that exist, enabling his lab and others to determine how such receptor channels function in health and disease.

He is noted for being the first to successfully record single-channel currents from AMPA-type glutamate receptors — the major glutamate receptor mediating fast transmission. He also discovered a new form for synaptic plasticity that appears to involve a type of AMPA receptor that underlies several important neurological diseases. Currently, Stuart holds the established Gaddum Chair of Pharmacology and a personal Chair in Neuroscience at University College London.