David Lyons

Myelinated axons in health and disease.

David Lyons is Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Edinburgh and co-director of the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research. David completed an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at University College London. 

David was an early adopter of the zebrafish model, using them to investigate neurogenesis in the hindbrain during his PhD, with Prof. Jonathan Clarke (UCL) then to identify new genes required for the formation of myelinated axons, while a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, where he worked with Professor Will Talbot. 

David moved to Edinburgh in 2009 to start his own group, first supported by a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship, followed by successive Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowships, and lateral a UKRI Frontier Award (following winning an ERC Advanced Grant). 

Photo of David Lyons
David Lyons

Laura Bayon Cordero (postdoctoral fellow)
David Bennett (research assistant)
Jenea Bin (postdoctoral fellow)
Sophie Calderwood (research assistant)
Elena Collins (postdoctoral fellow)
Sandra Constantinou Juahasz (research assistant)
Maria Eichel-Vogel (postdoctoral fellow)
Maya Ibenfeldt (research assistant)
Marcus Keatinge (postdoctoral fellow)
Julia Meng (postdoctoral fellow)
Eleonora Scalia (PhD student)
Toby Shaw McGrath (research assistant)
Daniel Soong (Imaging facility manager)
Julia van de Korput (PhD student)


David’s lab primarily employ zebrafish as a model system to investigate the biology of myelinated axons in nervous system development, damage and repair. Myelin, made by specialised glial cells, wraps around axons to regulate the speed of electrical transmission throughout our nervous system and to provide metabolic support. David’s lab use the potential of zebrafish for high-content genetic and chemical compound based screens, coupled with sophisticated live imaging approaches, and analyses of nervous system function to understand mechanisms of axonal maturation and myelination. They also use zebrafish to model features of human disorders of the nervous system and to investigate potential therapies for conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

David’s group complement their studies in zebrafish with analyses in other model systems including humans, through a wide network of local, national and international collaborators.

 


fluorescence image of Zebrafish axons

A high-resolution phenotypic screen identifies novel regulators of CNS axon diameter growth in zebrafish
Eichel-Vogel MA, Soong D, Sequeira MN, Ibenfeldt MLA, Marshall-Phelps KLH, Bin JM, Lyons DA
PLoS Biology (2026) 24(7): e3003895. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003895

Flexible ensheathment of axons optimizes myelination of complex CNS networks
Call C, Neely SA, Early JJ, James OG, Zoupi L, Williams AC, Chandran S, Lyons DA, Monk KR, Bergles D
Nature (2026) doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10312-1.

Myelin sheaths in the central nervous system can withstand damage and dynamically remodel
Arafa D, van de Korput J, Braaker PN, Higgins KP, Meijns NRC Marshall-Phelps KLH, Meng J, Soong D, Scalia E, Lathem K, KeatingeM, Richmond C, Klingseisen A, Main M, Neely SA, Hampton DW, Duncan GJ, Schenk GJ, Groot ML, Chandran S, Emery B, Luchicchi A, Kole MHP, Williams AC, Lyons DA
Science (2026) 391(6786):eadr4661. doi: 10.1126/science.adr4661.

Activity-driven myelin sheath growth is mediated by mGluR5
Braaker PN, Mi X, Soong D, Bin JM, Marshall-Phelps KLH, Bradley S, Benito-Kwiecinski S, Meng J, Arafa D, Richmond C, Keatinge M, Yu G, Almeida RG, Lyons DA
Nature Neuroscience (2025) 28(6):1213-1225. doi: 10.1038/s41593-025-01956-9

Importin 13-dependent axon diameter growth regulates conduction speeds along myelinated CNS axons
Bin JM, Suminaite D, Benito-Kwiecinski SK, Kegel L, Rubio-Brotons M, Early JJ, Soong D,  Livesey MR, Poole RJ, Lyons DA
Nature Communications (2024) 15(1):1790.  doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45908-6.


This article was published on