Biography

I lead the Denk lab, which studies the peripheral nervous system and its involvement in chronic pain conditions. My group is particularly interested in why pain persists over long periods of time and is exploring the role of neuroimmune interactions and epigenetic mechanisms in this context. Our favourite tools include flow cytometry, cell sorting (FACS, MACS), chromatin analysis methods (ChIP, ATAC, Cut&Run), and RNA sequencing. I am also Co-Director of a Wellcome Trust PhD Training Scheme in Neuroimmune Interactions. We are looking to promote interdisciplinary research in an open, positive research environment. My group and I enjoy sharing data, and we engage with other researchers and the public on a regular basis. So please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

Please see my Research Staff Profile for more detail

Find out more about my research:

• Franziska Denk
• RNA Sequence Browser

Key publications:

• Chakrabarti et al., 2020. Sensitization of Knee-Innervating Sensory Neurons by Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Activated Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes: An in Vitro, Co-Culture Model of Inflammatory Pain. Pain.
• Jager et al., 2020. Changes in the transcriptional fingerprint of satellite glial cells following peripheral nerve injury. Glia.
• Fernandez-Zafra et al., 2018. Exploring the transcriptome of resident spinal microglia after collagen antibody-induced arthritis. Pain.
• Denk et al., 2017. Don't let useful data go to waste. Nature.
• Denk et al., 2016. Persistent Alterations in Microglial Enhancers in a Model of Chronic Pain. Cell Reports. 

View all publications

Key collaborators:

• Prof Stephen McMahon, King's College London
• Prof Leonie Taams, King's College London
• Prof Matt Ramer, University of British Columbia