Professor Jim Gallagher holds the Derby Chair of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Liverpool.  He obtained his BSc from the University of Newcastle on Tyne and MSc from the University of Aberdeen, followed by a PhD from the University of Cambridge where he investigated the metabolism of vitamin D, under the supervision of Eric Lawson.

He then undertook postdoctoral research in Herbie Fleisch’s lab in Bern working on bisphosphonates.  He returned to England to work in Graham Russell’s lab in Sheffield where along with Jon Beresford, he developed the first techniques to culture cells expressing an osteoblastic phenotype from human bone.  In 1984 he was appointed to a lectureship in Mineralised Tissue Biology at University College London and moved to the University of Liverpool in 1986.  He has undertaken short sabbaticals at the University of Melbourne with Jack Martin working on PTHrP and Ciba-Geigy, Basle with Graeme Bilbe on gene expression in bone.   His work is focused on elucidating the basic mechanisms underlying human bone and joint disease.

Over the past few years, his laboratory has been the international leader in research on the role of extracellular nucleotides and P2 receptors in bone and skin homeostasis. He is a member of the ATPbone EUFP7 consortium. He is also the co-ordinator of FindAKUre, a Europe-wide collaboration to develop new therapeutic strategies for Alkaptonuria.

Prof Jim Gallagher was present at the 4th International Workshop, chairing the sessions on basic science.