Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience and Deputy Phase 1 Lead
I am a developmental neurobiologist interested in how the brain develops and how this development has evolved over the last 500 or so million years. I teach embryology, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology across the medical curriculum.
After reading Cell Biology at Durham, my PhD explored the evolution of the homeobox genes in animals, which are crucial in building animal embryos, under the supervision of Dr David Ferrier (now in St Andrews) and Prof Peter Holland at Oxford, where I was also a college lecturer at St Catherine's College. From there, I moved to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof Richard Wingate, Prof Andrew Lumsden, and Prof Anthony Graham at King's College London on the development and evolution of the hindbrain.
My first teaching post was as a lecturer in neurobiology on the Nanchang Joint Programme at QMUL, and before moving to Sunderland I was the programme director for the BSc Anatomy degree at the University of Liverpool.
Teaching and supervision
I am a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience in the School of Medicine, and the theme lead for Neuroscience. In addition to this, I am Deputy Phase 1 Lead, and the School's Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion lead, and a personal tutor.
I teach molecular biology, genetics, genomics, embryology, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology across the medical curriculum.
Research interests for potential research students
- Development biology of the cerebellum
- Developmental evolution of the cerebellum
- Medulloblastoma cancer biology
- Human brain development
Research
I am interested in the molecular control of neurogenesis and its evolution across the vertebrate phylogeny. In particular, I work on the cerebellum, which contains ~80% of the neurons in the brain, and exhibits a huge variety of morphological forms across vertebrates. As such, it's a great model system for asking how complex, foliated brains evolved. Unsurprisingly given the huge numbers of neurons produced during development, cerebellar progenitors also give rise to the most common paediatric brain tumour, medulloblastoma.
My research aims to understand the molecular control of progenitor biology in the cerebellum, and through this to illustrate both how cerebellar development has evolved, and also how it can go awry during tumourigenesis, principally using a combination of comparative genomics and genetic manipulations in the chick embryo.
I am also interested in human brain development and maturation across the life span, and collaborate with the School of Law to explore the implications of human critical periods and myelinations patterns during development for the legal system in relation to juvenile sentencing.
Publications
Article
Rook, Victoria, Haldipur, Parthiv, Millen, Kathleen J, Butts, Thomas and Wingate, Richard (2024) BMP signalling facilitates transit amplification in the developing chick and human cerebellum. eLife, 12 (RP9294). ISSN 2050-084X
Butts, Thomas (2023) Research excellence: make funding governance more transparent. Nature, 620 (7973). p. 211. ISSN 1476-4687
Bond, Alistair P, Butts, Thomas and Tierney, Claire M (2023) Spot(ters) the difference: Bringing traditional anatomical examinations online. Clinical anatomy. ISSN 1098-2353
Butts, Thomas (2022) Evolution: The Origins and Mechanisms of Diversity. Journal of anatomy, 243 (1). pp. 211-183. ISSN 1469-7580
Yañez-Guerra, Luis Alfonso, Zhong, Xingxing, Moghul, Ismail, Butts, Thomas, Zampronio, Cleidiane G, Jones, Alexandra M, Mirabeau, Olivier and Elphick, Maurice R (2020) Echinoderms provide missing link in the evolution of PrRP/sNPF-type neuropeptide signalling. eLife, 9. ISSN 2050-084X
Hu, Youli, Butts, Thomas, Poopalasundaram, Subathra, Graham, Anthony and Bouloux, Pierre‐Marc (2019) Extracellular matrix protein anosmin‐1 modulates olfactory ensheathing cell maturation in chick olfactory bulb development. European Journal of Neuroscience, 50 (9). pp. 3472-3486. ISSN 0953-816X
Lipovsek, Marcela, Ledderose, Julia, Butts, Thomas, Lafont, Tanguy, Kiecker, Clemens, Wizenmann, Andrea and Graham, Anthony (2017) The emergence of mesencephalic trigeminal neurons. Neural Development, 12 (1). ISSN 1749-8104
Hanzel, Michalina, Wingate, Richard J.T. and Butts, Thomas (2015) Ex Vivo Culture of Chick Cerebellar Slices and Spatially Targeted Electroporation of Granule Cell Precursors. Journal of Visualized Experiments (106). ISSN 1940-087X
Smith, Moya M., Johanson, Zerina, Butts, Thomas, Ericsson, Rolf, Modrell, Melinda, Tulenko, Frank J., Davis, Marcus C. and Fraser, Gareth J. (2015) Making teeth to order: conserved genes reveal an ancient molecular pattern in paddlefish (Actinopterygii). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282 (1805). p. 20142700. ISSN 0962-8452
Butts, Thomas, Green, Mary J. and Wingate, Richard J. T. (2014) Development of the cerebellum: simple steps to make a ‘little brain’. Development, 141 (21). pp. 4031-4041. ISSN 0950-1991
Butts, Thomas, Hanzel, Michalina and Wingate, Richard J. T. (2014) Transit amplification in the amniote cerebellum evolved via a heterochronic shift in NeuroD1 expression. Development, 141 (14). pp. 2791-2795. ISSN 0950-1991
Graham, Anthony, Butts, Thomas, Lumsden, Andrew and Kiecker, Clemens (2014) What can vertebrates tell us about segmentation? EvoDevo, 5 (1). p. 24. ISSN 2041-9139
Butts, Thomas, Modrell, Melinda S., Baker, Clare V.H. and Wingate, Richard J.T. (2014) The evolution of the vertebrate cerebellum: absence of a proliferative external granule layer in a non‐teleost ray‐finned fish. Evolution & Development, 16 (2). pp. 92-100. ISSN 1520-541X
Broom, Emma R., Gilthorpe, Jonathan D., Butts, Thomas, Campo-Paysaa, Florent and Wingate, Richard J. T. (2012) The roof plate boundary is a bi-directional organiser of dorsal neural tube and choroid plexus development. Development, 139 (22). pp. 4261-4270. ISSN 0950-1991
Butts, Thomas, Chaplin, Natalie and Wingate, Richard J. T. (2011) Can Clues from Evolution Unlock the Molecular Development of the Cerebellum? Molecular Neurobiology, 43 (1). pp. 67-76. ISSN 0893-7648
Butts, Thomas, Holland, Peter W. H. and Ferrier, David E. K. (2010) Ancient homeobox gene loss and the evolution of chordate brain and pharynx development: deductions from amphioxus gene expression. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277 (1699). pp. 3381-3389. ISSN 0962-8452
Shigenobu, S., Bickel, R. D., Brisson, J. A., Butts, Thomas, Chang, C-c., Christiaens, O., Davis, G. K., Duncan, E. J., Ferrier, D. E. K., Iga, M., Janssen, R., Lin, G.-W., Lu, H.-L., McGregor, A. P., Miura, T., Smagghe, G., Smith, J. M., Van Der Zee, M., Velarde, R. A., Wilson, M. J., Dearden, P. K. and Stern, D. L. (2010) Comprehensive survey of developmental genes in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum: frequent lineage-specific duplications and losses of developmental genes. Insect Molecular Biology, 19. pp. 47-62. ISSN 09621075
Eisen, Jonathan A., Butts, Thomas and The International Aphid Genomics Consortium, (2010) Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. PLoS Biology, 8 (2). e1000313. ISSN 1545-7885
Takatori, Naohito, Butts, Thomas, Candiani, Simona, Pestarino, Mario, Ferrier, David E. K., Saiga, Hidetoshi and Holland, Peter W. H. (2008) Comprehensive survey and classification of homeobox genes in the genome of amphioxus, Branchiostoma floridae. Development Genes and Evolution, 218 (11-12). pp. 579-590. ISSN 0949-944X
Zhong, Ying-Fu, Butts, Thomas and Holland, Peter W. H. (2008) HomeoDB: a database of homeobox gene diversity. Evolution & Development, 10 (5). pp. 516-518. ISSN 1520-541X
Putnam, Nicholas H., Butts, Thomas, Ferrier, David E. K., Furlong, Rebecca F., Hellsten, Uffe, Kawashima, Takeshi, Robinson-Rechavi, Marc, Shoguchi, Eiichi, Terry, Astrid, Yu, Jr-Kai, Benito-Gutiérrez, E`lia, Dubchak, Inna, Garcia-Fernàndez, Jordi, Gibson-Brown, Jeremy J., Grigoriev, Igor V., Horton, Amy C., de Jong, Pieter J., Jurka, Jerzy, Kapitonov, Vladimir V., Kohara, Yuji, Kuroki, Yoko, Lindquist, Erika, Lucas, Susan, Osoegawa, Kazutoyo, Pennacchio, Len A., Salamov, Asaf A., Satou, Yutaka, Sauka-Spengler, Tatjana, Schmutz, Jeremy, Shin-I, Tadasu, Toyoda, Atsushi, Bronner-Fraser, Marianne, Fujiyama, Asao, Holland, Linda Z., Holland, Peter W. H., Satoh, Nori and Rokhsar, Daniel S. (2008) The amphioxus genome and the evolution of the chordate karyotype. Nature, 453 (7198). pp. 1064-1071. ISSN 0028-0836
Holland, Linda Z., Albalat, Ricard, Azumi, Kaoru, Benito-Gutiérrez, Èlia, Blow, Matthew J., Bronner-Fraser, Marianne, Brunet, Frederic, Butts, Thomas, Candiani, Simona, Dishaw, Larry J., Ferrier, David E.K., Garcia-Fernàndez, Jordi, Gibson-Brown, Jeremy J., Gissi, Carmela, Godzik, Adam, Hallböök, Finn, Hirose, Dan, Hosomichi, Kazuyoshi, Ikuta, Tetsuro, Inoko, Hidetoshi, Kasahara, Masanori, Kasamatsu, Jun, Kawashima, Takeshi, Kimura, Ayuko, Kobayashi, Masaaki, Kozmik, Zbynek, Kubokawa, Kaoru, Laudet, Vincent, Litman, Gary W., McHardy, Alice C., Meulemans, Daniel, Nonaka, Masaru, Olinski, Robert P., Pancer, Zeev, Pennacchio, Len A., Pestarino, Mario, Rast, Jonathan P., Rigoutsos, Isidore, Robinson-Rechavi, Marc, Roch, Graeme, Saiga, Hidetoshi, Sasakura, Yasunori, Satake, Masanobu, Satou, Yutaka, Schubert, Michael, Sherwood, Nancy, Shiina, Takashi, Takatori, Naohito, Tello, Javier, Vopalensky, Pavel, Wada, Shuichi, Xu, Anlong, Ye, Yuzhen, Yoshida, Keita, Yoshizaki, Fumiko, Yu, Jr-Kai, Zhang, Qing, Zmasek, Christian M., de Jong, Pieter J., Osoegawa, Kazutoyo, Putnam, Nicholas H., Rokhsar, Daniel S., Satoh, Noriyuki and Holland, Peter W.H. (2008) The amphioxus genome illuminates vertebrate origins and cephalochordate biology. Genome Research, 18 (7). pp. 1100-1111. ISSN 1088-9051
Butts, Thomas, Holland, Peter W.H. and Ferrier, David E.K. (2008) The Urbilaterian Super-Hox cluster. Trends in Genetics, 24 (6). pp. 259-262. ISSN 0168-9525
Butts, Thomas and Tribolium Genome Sequencing Consortium, (2008) The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum. Nature, 452 (7190). pp. 949-955. ISSN 0028-0836
Book Section
Wishart, Hannah/HW, Arthur, Ray and Butts, Thomas (2025) Outlining the relationship between the English Youth Justice System and the Developmental Neurobiology of the Human Brain. In: International Perspectives of Neuroscience in the Youth Justice Courtroom. Routledge Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice and Procedure . Routledge. ISBN 9781032571133 (In Press)
Butts, Thomas, Rook, Victoria, Varela, Tristan, Wilson, Leigh and Wingate, Richard (2021) Specification of Granule Cells and Purkinje Cells. In: Handbook of the Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, p. 211. ISBN 978-3-319-97911-3
Other
Butts, Thomas (2014) University managers misled by metrics. Nature. 511, 534 (2014).
Butts, Thomas and Graham, Anthony (2013) Old before their time: the ancient origins of the neural crest [News]. Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research. 26 (3).
- Brain development
- Brain evolution
- Neuroscience
- Neuroanatomy
- Developmental biology