Prof Richard Ribchester

Professor Richard Ribchester is a leading authority on the biology of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), the connections between motor neurons and muscle fibres. These points of contact between the brain, spinal cord and muscle are especially vulnerable to disease and NMJs are among the first to degenerate in MND/ALS. Richard’s research is uncovering new ways of imaging NMJs in living subjects and patients using microendoscopy technologies; and understanding the mechanisms of MND and other neuromuscular diseases using a combination of anatomical and physiological techniques.

Richard graduated in Chemistry and Zoology from Durham University in 1974 and obtained his PhD from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1977. After postdoctoral research at the Universities of Colorado (USA) and Oslo (Norway) he joined the Department of Physiology in Edinburgh as a Lecturer in 1980. He was promoted to a Personal Chair in 2005 and awarded a DSc by the University for his research on development and plasticity of neuromuscular innervation, in the same year. Richard co-founded the EdMoND group in 2006 and was Acting Director of the Euan MacDonald Centre from 2007-2009.

Richard retired and took Emeritus status in October 2020, after 40 years of service in the University. He maintains an active interest in the research goals of the Euan MacDonald Centre. Richard was elected to Honorary Membership of the Physiological Society in November 2020, in recognition of his many contributions to research on the physiology, development and plasticity of neuromuscular junctions.