Rate My Professor Bruno Frenguelli

Professor Bruno Frenguelli is Professor of Neuroscience in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick, a position he has held since 2007. He obtained his BSc in Physiology from the University of Glasgow in 1989 and his PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University of Birmingham in 1993. From 1993 to 1996, he held a Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA, and the University of Bristol. Prior to joining Warwick, from 1996 to 2007, he was Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Caledonian Research Foundation Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at the University of Dundee.

Frenguelli's research focuses on purinergic signalling, particularly the roles of ATP and adenosine in neuroprotection during epileptic seizures, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Adenosine inhibits glutamate release and hyperpolarizes neurons to safeguard brain tissue. His lab has developed RibAde, a combination of adenine and ribose, to restore ATP via the purine salvage pathway, enhancing adenosine production, reducing brain injury, and accelerating recovery in stroke models. In partnership with Zimmer and Peacock, they develop purine-based biosensors for brain injury diagnostics. A landmark discovery is BnOCPA, an adenosine A1 receptor agonist that delivers analgesia without cardiorespiratory depression by selectively activating the Gαob subunit; it has been patented and licensed for non-opioid pain therapeutics. Additional interests include MSK1's role in synaptic plasticity, learning, memory, and environmental enrichment. He has received grants from the Medical Research Council, Stroke Association, BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, and others for projects on analgesics, stroke treatments, and cognitive function. Key publications include Wall et al. (2022) 'Selective activation of Gαob by an adenosine A1 receptor agonist elicits analgesia without cardiorespiratory depression' in Nature Communications; Frenguelli (2020) 'Purines: from diagnostic biomarkers to therapeutic agents in brain injury'; and Fredholm et al. (2025) 'Adenosine receptors in GtoPdb v.2025.4'. Frenguelli served as Editor-in-Chief of Neuropharmacology and co-launched the journal Brain and Environment.