Biomedical Sciences

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Brian Spurrell commenced lecturing at Charles Sturt University in 2008 teaching anatomy, physiology and nutrition. Being from Colac in Victoria, he moved to Melbourne to work for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in 1974. He returned to university in 1993 and completed a BApplSc (Human Biology) at RMIT University (1995) and then went on to complete a Honours Year BachApplSci(MedLab Sci)(1996) and a PhD (Cell Physiology) RMIT in 2004. His major areas of interest are signal transduction mechanisms in cells and the kinesiology and biomechanics of athletes. He is conducting research into the development and use of novel methods to measure the biomechanical performance and clinical condition of racehorses and performance horses. He is an experienced athletics coach holding a level 4 certificate specialising in middle and long distance running.

Teaching

Current subjects taught:

• Anatomy
• Physiology and Nutrition to students in Medical Imaging
• Nuclear Medicine
• Nursing
• Medical Laboratory Science
• Medical Biotechnology
• Respiratory Science
• Nutrition & Dietetics courses.

Research

He is conducting research into the development use of novel methods to measure the biomechanical performance and clinical condition of racehorses and performance horses. These methods could ultimately be used in measuring the gait of a racehorse, the recovery from training, the progress and resolution of injuries and how the horse interacts with the surface upon which it competes. The information gained could be used to better target training loads, time of recovery after training the efficacy of the types of treatment for injury and the design of safer equine completion surfaces.

Publications

• Spurrell, B. E., Murphy, T. V. and Hill, M. A.(1999). Tyrosine phosphorylation modulates arteriolar tone but not fundamental to myogenic responses. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 278: H373-H382
  
• Murphy, T. V., Spurrell, B. E. and Hill, M. A. (2001). Tyrosine phosphorylation following alterations in arteriolaer intraluminal pressure and wall tension. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol.281: H1047-H1056
• Murphy, T. V., Spurrell, B. E. and Hill, M. A. (2002). Mechanisms underlying pervanadate-induced contraction of rat cremaster muscle arterioles. Eur. J. Pharmacol.: 107-114.
• Murphy, T. V., Spurrell, B. E. and Hill, M. A. (2002). Cellular signalling in arteriolar myogenic constriction: involvement of tyrosine phosphorylation pathways. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. (7): 612-619.
• Lee, J. S., Bruce, C. R., Spurrell, B. E, and Hawley, J. A. (2002). Effect of training on activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in rat soleus muscle. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 29(8): 655-660.
• Spurrell, B. E., Murphy, T. V. and Hill, M. A. (2003). Intraluminal pressure stimulates MAP kinase phosphorylation in arterioles: dissociation of myogenic contractile response. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. : H1764-H1773
• Spurrell, B. E., Murphy, T. V. and Hill, M. A. (2001). Tyrosine phosphorylation of MAP kinase following increased intraluminal pressure or epidermal growth factor in cannulated vessels FASEB Journal 15(4) Part 1: A43