Professor Ole Petersen
CBE FRS

Teams and roles for Ole Petersen

Director of the Cardiff University - Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub
School of Biosciences

I direct Cardiff University's work for the European Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism via SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies). I came to Cardiff at the beginning of 2010, succeeding the Nobel Laureate Sir Martin Evans FRS, as Director of the Cardiff School of Biosciences (2010-2015). Before that, I held the George Holt Chair of Physiology at the University of Liverpool(1981-2009). I graduated in Medicine from the University of Copenhagen in 1969 and was subsequently Assistant and then Associate Professor in Copenhagen until my appointment as Symers Professor of Physiology at the University of Dundee (1975-1981). My research work has been focussed on the physiology and pathophysiology of exocrine glands. I pioneered patch-clamp single-channel and whole-cell current recording experiments on epithelial cells, discovering ion channels in these cells (published in seven Nature papers in the 1980s). I subsequently discovered the local calcium signals in exocrine gland cells that control these ion channels (published in five Cell papers in the 1990s). My international awards include the NOVO Nordisk Foundation's Jacobaeus Prize (Copenhagen, 1994), the Czech Science Academy's Purkyne Medal (Prague, 2003), the American Physiological Society's highest award, the Walter B Cannon Memorial Award (San Diego, 2018), the Academia Europaea's Gold Medal (Barcelona, 2021) and the International Association of Pancreatology's highest award, the George E Palade Medal and Prize (Kyoto, 2022). I have been elected Fellow/Member of many national academies of science, including the Royal Society (2000), the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (2010), the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (1988) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2004). My appointment as CBE was announced in the 2008 New Year Honours List and I received the award from Queen Elizabeth II personally at Buckingham Palace on 7th May 2008.

Award of Honorary Degree at AL-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan, 12th April 2025

Award Lecture at National Academy of Scientists Education: XXIII. Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Talented Students, Szeged, Hungary, 7th December 2024:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX3mYC-qZJ8

My primary research interest is in the field of intracellular Calcium Signalling, with specific emphasis on epithelial cells. I have traced the origins, and subsequent development, of this now rapidly expanding research field in my biographical memoir of Sir Michael Berridge FRS, published by the Royal Society:

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2023.0047

My current h-index is 108 (Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6z3BJ0oAAAAJ)

CURRENT INTERNATIONAL and NATIONAL ADVISORY FUNCTIONS:

*Member of the REF2029 People, Culture and Environment Pilot Panel (Biological Sciences), 2025

(The REF [Research Excellence Framework] is the UK's system for assessing the quality of research in all UK higher education institutions)

*Member of Academia Europaea's Translational Medicine Working Group, 2019 -

(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03992-1)

*Member of the International Advisory Board of the Hungarian Research Network's Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, 2024-

*Distinguished Honorary Professor at Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan, 2025-

*Honorary Professor at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, 2011-

CURRENT GRANT SUPPORT AS PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

European Commission, Horizon Europe: 1st January 2025 - 30th April 2029

PRESIDENT, CHAIR of INTERNATIONAL and NATIONAL COMMITTEES; EiC POSITIONS (selection)

*Chair, Hungarian Research Council's Physiology - Neuroscience Panel, 2024-2026; *Vice-President of Academia Europaea, 2015-2023; *EiC of Amer Physiol Soc's Function, 2019-2024; *Executive Editor, J Physiol, 2016-2019; *Executive Editor, Pflugers Archiv - Eur J Physiol, 1992-2020; *Chair, REF2014 Biol Sci Panel; *European EiC of Amer Physiol Soc's Physiol Rev, 2003-2011; *Secretary General of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) 2002-2010; *Chair, European Research Council's (ERC) Physiology, Pathophysiology & Endocrinology Starting Grant Panel, Funding Rounds 2009, 2010 & 2011; *Deputy Chair, ERC Physiology, Pathophysiology & Endocrinology Consolidator Panel, Funding Round 2013; *Co-Chair of the International Scientific Programme Committee (ISPC) for the 36th International Congress of Physiological Sciences Kyoto, Japan July/August 2009; *President of the Physiological Society (UK & Ireland), 2006-2008; *Vice-President of the Royal Society, 2005-2006; *President of the Federation of European Physiological Societies (FEPS), 2001-2003; *President of the European Pancreatic Club 2002-2003.

Date
Type

2013

Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2013. Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ channel blockade as a potential tool in antipancreatitis therapy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110 (32), pp.13186-13191. (10.1073/pnas.1300910110)
Heygi, P. and Petersen, O. 2013. The exocrine pancreas: the acinar-ductal tango in physiology and pathophysiology. In: Nilius, B. et al., Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Vol. 165, Cham, Switzerland: Springer Verlag. , pp.1-30. (10.1007/112_2013_14)

2012

Ferdek, P. et al. 2012. A novel role for Bcl-2 in regulation of cellular calcium extrusion. Current Biology 22 (13), pp.1241-1246. (10.1016/j.cub.2012.05.002)
Gerasimenko, O. V. , Petersen, O. H. and Gerasimenko, J. V. 2012. Role of intracellular acid Ca2+ stores in pathological pancreatic protease activation [Editorial]. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 6 (2), pp.129-131. (10.1586/EGH.12.5)
Petersen, O. H. 2012. Specific mitochondrial functions in separate sub-cellular domains of pancreatic acinar cells. Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology 464 (1), pp.77-87. (10.1007/s00424-012-1099-6)
Petersen, O. H. , Gerasimenko, O. V. and Gerasimenko, J. V. 2012. The war within - unraveling the molecular causes of acute pancreatitis - a potentially deadly disease in which the pancreas essentially digests itself - is yielding clues to how it might be treated. The Scientist 26 (2), pp.40-44.
Spät, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2012. A special issue on the cell-specific roles of mitochondrial Ca2+ handling [Editorial]. Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology 464 (1), pp.1-2. (10.1007/s00424-012-1123-x)

2011

Booth, D. et al., 2011. Reactive oxygen species induced by bile acid induce apoptosis and protect against necrosis in pancreatic acinar cells. Gastroenterology 140 (7), pp.2116-2125. (10.1053/j.gastro.2011.02.054)
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2011. Calmodulin protects against alcohol-induced pancreatic trypsinogen activation elicited via Ca2+ release through IP3 receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (14), pp.5873-5878. (10.1073/pnas.1016534108)
Lur, G. et al., 2011. InsP3 receptors and Orai channels in pancreatic acinar cells: co-localization and its consequences. Biochemical Journal 436 (2), pp.231-239. (10.1042/BJ20110083)
Petersen, O. H. , Gerasimenko, O. V. and Gerasimenko, J. V. 2011. Pathobiology of acute pancreatitis: focus on intracellular calcium and calmodulin. F1000 Medicine Reports (3) 15. (10.3410/M3-15)
Petersen, O. H. et al. 2011. Aberrant Ca2+ signalling through acidic calcium stores in pancreatic acinar cells. Cell Calcium 50 (2), pp.193-199. (10.1016/j.ceca.2011.02.010)

2010

Blum, R. , Petersen, O. H. and Verkhratsky, A. 2010. Ca2+ imaging of intracellular organelles: endoplasmic reticulum. In: Verkhratsky, A. and Petersen, O. H. eds. Calcium measurement methods. Neuromethods Vol. 43.New York: Humana Press. , pp.146-167. (10.1007/978-1-60761-476-0_8)
Chvanov, M. , Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. V. 2010. Pharmacologically directed cell disposal: labelling damaged cells for phagocytosis as a strategy against acute pancreatitis. Molecular Interventions 10 (2), pp.80-85. (10.1124/mi.10.2.9)
Petersen, O. H. 2010. Ca2+ signaling in pancreatic acinar cells: physiology and pathophysiology. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 42 (1), pp.9-16.
Verkhratsky, A. N. and Petersen, O. H. 2010. Preface. In: Verkhratsky, A. N. and Petersen, O. H. eds. Calcium Measurement Methods. Neuromethods Vol. 43.New York, NY; London: Humana Press. , pp.vii-vii.
Verkhratsky, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2010. Bernd Nilius: The Bard of ion channels. Congratulations on 65th birthday. Pflügers Archiv European Journal of Physiology 460 (4), pp.691-694. (10.1007/s00424-010-0857-6)
Verkhratsky, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2010. Principles of the Ca2+ homeostatic/signalling system. In: Verkhratsky, A. and Petersen, O. H. eds. Calcium Measurement Methods. Neuromethods Vol. 43.New York: Humana Press. , pp.1-11. (10.1007/978-1-60761-476-0_1)
Voronina, S. G. et al., 2010. Dynamic changes in cytosolic and mitochondrial ATP levels in pancreatic acinar cells. Gastroenterology 138 (5), pp.1976-1987. (10.1053/j.gastro.2010.01.037)
Walsh, C. M. et al., 2010. Role of phosphoinositides in STIM1 dynamics and store-operated calcium entry. Biochemical Journal 425 (1), pp.159-168. (10.1042/BJ20090884)

2009

Baumgartner, H. K. et al., 2009. Calcium elevation in mitochondria is the main Ca2+ requirement for mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening. Journal of Biological Chemistry 284 (31), pp.20796-20803. (10.1074/jbc.M109.025353)
Criddle, D. N. et al., 2009. Cholecystokinin-58 and cholecystokinin-8 exhibit similar actions on calcium signaling, zymogen secretion, and cell fate in murine pancreatic acinar cells. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 297 (6), pp.G1085-G1092. (10.1152/ajpgi.00119.2009)
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2009. Pancreatic protease activation by alcohol metabolite depends on Ca2+ release via acid store IP3 receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (26), pp.10758-10763. (10.1073/pnas.0904818106)
Lur, G. et al., 2009. Ribosome-free terminals of rough ER allow formation of STIM1 puncta and segregation of STIM1 from IP3 receptors. Current Biology 19 (19), pp.1648-1653. (10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.072)
Petersen, O. H. 2009. The International Union of Physiological Sciences IUPS Editorial VIII [Editorial]. Physiology 24 (6), pp.320-321. (10.1152/physiol.00035.2009)
Petersen, O. H. et al. 2009. Fatty acids, alcohol and fatty acid ethyl esters: Toxic Ca2+ signal generation and pancreatitis. Cell Calcium 45 (6), pp.634-642. (10.1016/j.ceca.2009.02.005)
Walsh, C. et al., 2009. Modulation of calcium signalling by mitochondria. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta-Bioenergetics 1787 (11), pp.1374-1382. (10.1016/j.bbabio.2009.01.007)

2008

Barrow, S. L. et al., 2008. ATP depletion inhibits Ca2+ release, influx and extrusion in pancreatic acinar cells but not pathological Ca2+ responses induced by bile. Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology 455 (6), pp.1025-1039. (10.1007/s00424-007-0360-x)
Chvanov, M. et al., 2008. ATP depletion induces translocation of STIM1 to puncta and formation of STIM1-ORAI1 clusters: translocation and re-translocation of STIM1 does not require ATP. Pflugers Archiv-European Journal of Physiology 457 (2), pp.505-517. (10.1007/s00424-008-0529-y)
Kaneko, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2008. The International Union of Physiological Sciences IUPS Editorial V [Editorial]. Physiology 23 (3), pp.126-127. (10.1152/physiol.00012.2008)
Kaneko, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2008. The International Union of Physiological Sciences IUPS Editorial VI [Editorial]. Physiology 23 (6), pp.308-309. (10.1152/physiol.00027.2008)
Mukheriee, R. et al., 2008. Mitochondrial injury in pancreatitis. Cell Calcium 44 (1), pp.14-23. (10.1016/j.ceca.2007.11.013)
Mukherjee, R. et al., 2008. Corrigendum to “Mitochondrial injury in pancreatitis” [Cell Calcium 44 (1) (2008) 14–23]. Cell Calcium 44 (5), pp.520. (10.1016/j.ceca.2008.07.001)
Murphy, J. A. et al., 2008. Direct activation of cytosolic Ca2+ signaling and enzyme secretion by cholecystokinin in human pancreatic acinar cells. Gastroenterology 135 (2), pp.632-641. (10.1053/j.gastro.2008.05.026)
Park, M. K. et al., 2008. The endoplasmic reticulum as an integrator of multiple dendritic events. Neuroscientist 14 (1), pp.68-77. (10.1177/1073858407305691)
Petersen, O. H. 2008. Ca2+-induced pancreatic cell death: Roles of the endoplasmic reticulum, zymogen granules, lysosomes and endosomes. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 23 (S1), pp.S31-S36. (10.1111/j.1440-1746.2007.05281.x)
Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. V. 2008. Polarized calcium signaling in exocrine gland cells. Annual Review of Physiology 70 , pp.273-299. (10.1146/annurev.physiol.70.113006.100618)
Sutton, R. D. , Petersen, O. H. and Pandol, S. J. 2008. Pancreatitis and Calcium Signalling: Report of an International Workshop. Pancreas 36 (4), pp.e1-e14. (10.1097/MPA.0b013e3181675010)

2007

Baumgartner, H. K. et al., 2007. Caspase-8-mediated apoptosis induced by oxidative stress is independent of the intrinsic pathway and dependent on cathepsins. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 293 (1), pp.G296-G307. (10.1152/ajpgi.00103.2007)
Criddle, D. N. et al., 2007. Calcium signalling and pancreatic cell death: apoptosis or necrosis?. Cell Death and Differentiation 14 (7), pp.1285-1294. (10.1038/sj.cdd.4402150)
Criddle, D. N. et al., 2007. The pancreas misled: signals to pancreatitis. Pancreatology 7 (5-6), pp.436-446. (10.1159/000108960)
Kaneko, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2007. The International Union of Physiological Sciences IUPS Editorial III [Editorial]. Physiology 22 (3), pp.156-157. (10.1152/physiol.00013.2007)
Kaneko, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2007. The International Union of Physiological Sciences IUPS Editorial IV [Editorial]. Physiology 22 (6), pp.354. (10.1152/physiol.00038.2007)
Nicotera, P. et al., 2007. Janus a god with two faces: death and survival utilise same mechanisms conserved by evolution. Cell Death and Differentiation 14 (7), pp.1235-1236. (10.1038/sj.cdd.4402161)
Petersen, O. H. and Verkhratsky, A. 2007. Endoplasmic reticulum calcium tunnels integrate signalling in polarised cells. Cell Calcium 42 (4-5), pp.373-378. (10.1016/j.ceca.2007.05.012)
Sherwood, M. W. et al., 2007. Activation of trypsinogen in large endocytic vacuoles of pancreatic acinar cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104 (13), pp.5674-5679. (10.1073/pnas.0700951104)
Voronina, S. G. et al., 2007. Visualizing formation and dynamics of vacuoles in living cells using contrasting dextran-bound indicator: endocytic and nonendocytic vacuoles. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 293 (6), pp.G1333-G1338. (10.1152/ajpgi.00275.2007)

2006

Chvanov, M. et al., 2006. Calcium-dependent release of NO from intracellular S-nitrosothiols. EMBO Journal 25 (13), pp.3024. (10.1038/sj.emboj.7601207)
Criddle, D. N. et al., 2006. Menadione-induced reactive oxygen species generation via redox cycling promotes apoptosis of murine pancreatic acinar cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281 (52), pp.40485-40492. (10.1074/jbc.M607704200)
Criddle, D. N. et al., 2006. Fatty acid ethyl esters cause pancreatic calcium toxicity via inositol trisphosphate receptors and loss of ATP synthesis. Gastroenterology 130 (3), pp.781-793. (10.1053/j.gastro.2005.12.031)
Criddle, D. N. , Sutton, R. and Petersen, O. H. 2006. Role of Ca2+ in pancreatic cell death induced by alcohol metabolites. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21 (Sup.s3), pp.S14-S17. (10.1111/j.1440-1746.2006.04577.x)
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2006. Bile acids induce Ca2+ release from both the endoplasmic reticulum and acidic intracellular calcium stores through activation of inositol trisphosphate receptors and ryanodine receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281 (52), pp.40154-40163. (10.1074/jbc.M606402200)
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2006. NAADP, cADPR and IP3 all release Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum and an acidic store in the secretory granule area. Journal of Cell Science 119 (2), pp.226-238. (10.1242/jcs.02721)
Kaneko, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2006. The International Union of Physiological Sciences: IUPS Editorial [Editorial]. Physiology 21 (1), pp.2. (10.1152/physiol.00061.2005)
Menteyne, A. et al., 2006. Generation of Specific Ca2+ Signals from Ca2+ Stores and Endocytosis by Differential Coupling to Messengers. Current Biology 16 (19), pp.1931-1937. (10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.070)
Petersen, O. H. 2006. The FEPS Inaugural Lecture – Bristol 2005 [Editorial]. Acta Physiologica 187 (3), pp.353. (10.1111/j.1748-1716.2006.01572.x)
Petersen, O. H. and Sutton, R. 2006. Ca2+ signalling and pancreatitis: effects of alcohol, bile and coffee. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 27 (2), pp.113-120. (10.1016/j.tips.2005.12.006)
Petersen, O. H. , Sutton, R. and Criddle, D. N. 2006. Failure of calcium microdomain generation and pathological consequences. Cell Calcium 40 (5-6), pp.593-600. (10.1016/j.ceca.2006.08.020)
Verkhratsky, A. , Krishtal, O. A. and Petersen, O. H. 2006. From Galvani to patch clamp: the development of electrophysiology. Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology 453 (3), pp.233-247. (10.1007/s00424-006-0169-z)

2005

Burdakov, D. , Petersen, O. H. and Verkhratsky, A. 2005. Intraluminal calcium as a primary regulator of endoplasmic reticulum function. Cell Calcium 38 (3-4), pp.303-310. (10.1016/j.ceca.2005.06.010)
Chvanov, M. , Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. 2005. Free radicals and the pancreatic acinar cells: role in physiology and pathology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 360 (1464), pp.2273-2284. (10.1098/rstb.2005.1757)
Dolman, N. J. et al., 2005. Stable Golgi-mitochondria complexes and formation of Golgi Ca2+ gradients in pancreatic acinar cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280 (16), pp.15794-15799. (10.1074/jbc.M412694200)
Galione, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2005. The NAADP receptor: new receptors or new regulation?. Molecular Interventions 5 (2), pp.73-79. (10.1124/mi.5.2.4)
Knot, H. J. et al., 2005. Twenty years of calcium imaging: cell physiology to dye for. Molecular Interventions 5 (2), pp.112-127. (10.1124/mi.5.2.8)
Petersen, O. H. 2005. Ca2+ signalling and Ca2+-activated ion channels in exocrine acinar cells. Cell Calcium 38 (3-4), pp.171-200. (10.1016/j.ceca.2005.06.024)
Petersen, O. H. , Michalak, M. and Verkhratsky, A. 2005. Calcium signalling: past, present and future. Cell Calcium 38 (3-4), pp.161-169. (10.1016/j.ceca.2005.06.023)
Petersen, O. H. , Spat, A. and Verkhratsky, A. 2005. Introduction: reactive oxygen species in health and disease. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 360 (1464), pp.2197-2199. (10.1098/rstb.2005.1776)
Voronina, S. G. et al., 2005. Bile acids induce a cationic current, depolarizing pancreatic acinar cells and increasing the intracellular Na+ concentration. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280 (3), pp.1764-1770. (10.1074/jbc.M410230200)

2004

Criddle, D. N. et al., 2004. Ethanol toxicity in pancreatic acinar cells: mediation by nonoxidative fatty acid metabolites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101 (29), pp.10738-10743. (10.1073/pnas.0403431101)
Park, M. K. , Lee, M. and Petersen, O. H. 2004. Morphological and functional changes of dissociated single pancreatic acinar cells: testing the suitability of the single cell as a model for exocytosis and calcium signaling. Cell Calcium 35 (4), pp.367-379. (10.1016/j.ceca.2003.10.003)
Petersen, O. H. 2004. Local and global Ca2+ signals: physiology and pathophysiology. Biological Research 37 (4), pp.661-664.
Voronina, S. G. et al., 2004. Effects of secretagogues and gile acids on mitochondrial membrane potential of pancreatic acinar cells: comparison of different modes of evaluating ΔΨm. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279 (26), pp.27327-27338. (10.1074/jbc.M311698200)
Yano, K. , Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. V. 2004. Dual sensitivity of sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic Ca2+-ATPase to cytosolic and endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ as a mechanism of modulating cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations. Biochemical Journal 383 (2), pp.353-360. (10.1042/BJ20040629)

2003

Ashby, M. C. et al., 2003. Long distance communication between muscarinic receptors and Ca2+ release channels revealed by carbachol uncaging in cell-attached patch pipette. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278 (23), pp.20860-20864. (10.1074/jbc.M302599200)
Ashby, M. C. , Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. V. 2003. Spatial characterisation of ryanodine-induced calcium release in mouse pancreatic acinar cells. Biochemical Journal 369 (3), pp.441-445. (10.1042/BJ20021039)
Cancela, J. M. , Charpentier, G. and Petersen, O. H. 2003. Co-ordination of Ca2+ signalling in mammalian cells by the new Ca2+-releasing messenger NAADP. Pflugers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology 446 (3), pp.322-327. (10.1007/s00424-003-1035-x)
Dolman, N. J. , Tepikin, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2003. Generation and modulation of cytosolic Ca2+ signals in pancreatic acinar cells: Techniques and mechanisms. Biochemical Society Transactions 31 (5), pp.947-949.
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2003. NAADP mobilizes Ca2+ from a thapsigargin-sensitive store in the nuclear envelope by activating ryanodine receptors. Journal of Cell Biology 163 (2), pp.271-282. (10.1083/jcb.200306134)
Gerasimenko, O. V. et al. 2003. Calcium signalling in and around the nuclear envelope. Biochemical Society Transactions 31 (1), pp.76-78.
Johnson, P. R. et al., 2003. Non-uniform distribution of mitochondria in pancreatic acinar cells. Cell and Tissue Research 313 (1), pp.37-45. (10.1007/s00441-003-0741-1)
Mogami, H. et al., 2003. Decoding of short-lived Ca2+ influx signals into long term substrate phosphorylation through activation of two distinct classes of protein kinase C. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278 (11), pp.9896-9904. (10.1074/jbc.M210653200)
Petersen, O. H. 2003. FEPS in Nice: a date with the best of European Physiology. Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology 446 (2), pp.285-286. (10.1007/s00424-003-1047-6)
Petersen, O. H. 2003. Localization and regulation of Ca2+ entry and exit pathways in exocrine gland cells. Cell Calcium 33 (5-6), pp.337-344. (10.1016/S0143-4160(03)00047-2)
Sutton, R. et al., 2003. Signal transduction, calcium and acute pancreatitis. Pancreatology 3 (6), pp.497-505. (10.1159/000075581)

2002

Ashby, M. C. et al., 2002. Localized Ca2+ uncaging reveals polarized distribution of Ca2+-sensitive Ca2+ release sites: mechanism of unidirectional Ca2+ waves. Journal of cell biology 158 (2), pp.283-292.
Bootman, M. D. , Petersen, O. H. and Verkhratsky, A. 2002. The endoplasmic reticulum is a focal point for co-ordination of cellular activity. Cell Calcium 32 (5-6), pp.231-234. (10.1016/S0143416002002002)
Camello, C. et al., 2002. Calcium leak from intracellular stores - the enigma of calcium signalling. Cell Calcium 32 (5-6), pp.355-361. (10.1016/S0143416002001926)
Cancela, J. M. and Petersen, O. H. 2002. Regulation of intracellular Ca2+ stores by multiple Ca2+-releasing messengerS. Diabetes 51 (Supp 3), pp.S349-S357. (10.2337/diabetes.51.2007.S349)
Cancela, J. M. et al., 2002. Transformation of local Ca2+ spikes to global Ca2+ transients: the combinatorial roles of multiple Ca2+ releasing messengers. EMBO Journal 21 (5), pp.909-919. (10.1093/emboj/21.5.909)
Gerasimenko, J. V. et al. 2002. Menadione-induced apoptosis: Roles of cytosolic Ca2+ elevations and the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Journal of Cell Science 115 , pp.485-497.
Gerasimenko, O. V. et al. 2002. The distribution of the endoplasmic reticulum in living pancreatic acinar cells. Cell Calcium 32 (5-6), pp.261-268. (10.1016/S0143416002001938)
Lomax, R. B. et al., 2002. Basal and physiological Ca2+ leak from the endoplasmic reticulum of pancreatic acinar cells: second messenger-activated channels and translocons. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (29), pp.26479-26485. (10.1074/jbc.M201845200)
Park, M. , Tepikin, A. V. and Petersen, O. H. 2002. What can we learn about cell signalling by combining optical imaging and patch clamp techniques?. Pflugers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology 444 (3), pp.305-316. (10.1007/s00424-002-0832-y)
Petersen, O. H. 2002. Cation channels: homing in on the elusive CAN channels. Current Biology 12 (15), pp.R520-R522. (10.1016/S0960-9822(02)01027-8)
Petersen, O. H. and Burdakova, N. 2002. The specificity of Ca 2+ signalling.. Acta Physiologica Hungarica 89 (4), pp.439-450. (10.1556/APhysiol.89.2002.4.4)
Verkhratsky, A. and Petersen, O. H. 2002. The endoplasmic reticulum as an integrating signalling organelle: from neuronal signalling to neuronal death. European Journal of Pharmacology 447 (2-3), pp.141-154. (10.1016/S0014-2999(02)01838-1)
Voronina, S. et al., 2002. Correlation of NADH and Ca2+ signals in mouse pancreatic acinar cells. The Journal of Physiology 539 (1), pp.41-52. (10.1113/jphysiol.2001.013134)
Voronina, S. et al., 2002. Bile acids induce calcium signals in mouse pancreatic acinar cells: implications for bile-induced pancreatic pathology. The Journal of Physiology 540 (1), pp.49-55. (10.1113/jphysiol.2002.017525)
Yu, L. et al., 2002. An N-terminal truncated form of Orp150 Is a cytoplasmic ligand for the anti-proliferative mushroom Agaricus bisporus lectin and is required for nuclear localization sequence-dependent nuclear protein import. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277 (27), pp.24538-24545. (10.1074/jbc.M203550200)

2001

Burdakov, D. , Cancela, J. M. and Petersen, O. H. 2001. Bombesin-induced cytosolic Ca2+spiking in pancreatic acinar cells depends on cyclic ADP-ribose and ryanodine receptors. Cell Calcium 29 (3), pp.211-216. (10.1054/ceca.2000.0188)
Gerasimenko, J. V. , Gerasimenko, O. V. and Petersen, O. H. 2001. Membrane repair: Ca2+-elicited lysosomal exocytosis. Current Biology 11 (23), pp.R971-R974. (10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00577-2)
Park, M. K. et al., 2001. Perinuclear, perigranular and sub-plasmalemmal mitochondria have distinct functions in the regulation of cellular calcium transport. EMBO Journal 20 (8), pp.1863-1874. (10.1093/emboj/20.8.1863)
Park, M. K. et al., 2001. Local uncaging of caged Ca2+ reveals distribution of Ca2+-activated Cl- channels in pancreatic acinar cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 98 (19), pp.10948-10953. (10.1073/pnas.181353798)
Petersen, O. H. 2001. Letter from The President. Pflugers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology 443 (2), pp.331-332. (10.1007/s004240100692)
Petersen, O. H. 2001. Physiologists, physiology departments and universities: discipline and interdisciplinarity. Pflugers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology 441 (5), pp.725-727. (10.1007/s004240000477)
Petersen, O. H. and Fedirko, N. V. 2001. Calcium signalling: store-operated channel found at last. Current Biology 11 (13), pp.R520-R523. (10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00309-8)
Petersen, O. H. , Tepikin, A. and Park, M. K. 2001. The endoplasmic reticulum: one continuous or several separate Ca2+ stores?. Trends in Neurosciences 24 (5), pp.271-276. (10.1016/S0166-2236(00)01787-2)

2000

Cansela, J. M. et al., 2000. Two different but converging messenger pathways to intracellular Ca2+ release: the roles of nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate, cyclic ADP-ribose and inositol trisphosphate. Embo Journal 19 (11), pp.2549-2557. (10.1093/emboj/19.11.2549)
Park, M. K. , Petersen, O. H. and Tepikin, A. V. 2000. The endoplasmic reticulum as one continuous Ca2+ pool: Visualization of rapid Ca2+ movements and equilibration. Embo Journal 19 (21), pp.5587-5941. (10.1093/emboj/19.21.5729)
Petersen, O. H. 2000. The functional organisation of calcium signalling in exocrine acinar cells. Journal of Korean Medical Science 15 , pp.S44-S45. (10.3346/jkms.2000.15.S.S44)
Petersen, O. H. and Cancela, J. M. 2000. Nerve guidance: Attraction or repulsion by local Ca2+ signals. Current Biology 10 (8), pp.R311-R314. (10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00438-3)
Raraty, M. et al., 2000. Calcium-dependent enzyme activation and vacuole formation in the apical granular region of pancreatic acinar cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 97 (24), pp.13126-13131. (10.1073/pnas.97.24.13126)

Main Research Achievements

I pioneered, with Yoshio Maruyama, patch clamp single channel and whole-cell current recordings in epithelial cells, providing conclusive evidence for the presence and importance of regulated ion channels in the control of epithelial function. We discovered hormone-evoked, messenger-mediated ion channel activation (Maruyama & Petersen Nature 1982a,b), voltage-activation of epithelial ion channels (Maruyama et al Nature 1983a,b) and integrated these data into the first model of how ion channels control exocrine fluid secretion (Petersen & Maruyama Nature 1984 [ISI [WoS] Citation Classic]; Petersen J Physiol 1992). I discovered sub-cellular Ca2+ spiking in epithelial cells (Wakui et al Nature 1989, Cell 1990; Thorn et al Cell 1993), messenger-mediated Ca2+ release from the nuclear envelope (Gerasimenko et al Cell 1995) as well as the secretory granules (Gerasimenko et al Cell 1996) and intracellular Ca2+ tunnels (Mogami et al Cell 1997). Together with Oleg and Julia Gerasimenko, we demonstrated the crucial role of Ca2+ release channels and store-operated Ca2+ entry in Acute Pancreatitis(Raraty et al PNAS 2000; Gerasimenko et al PNAS 2009; 2011), provided proof-of-principle for Ca2+ releaseactivated Ca2+ (CRAC) channel blockade as a treatment of severe Acute Pancreatitis (Gerasimenko et al PNAS 2013; J Physiol 2014) and discovered a critical role for pancreatic stellate cells in this disease (Ferdek et al J Physiol 2016; Gryshchenko et al J Physiol 2016,2018). More recently, we have discovered Ca2+ signalling events in pancreatic immune cells that are likely to be important for initiating the cytokine storm that is responsible for severe, and often fatal, cases of Acute Pancreatitis (Gryshchenko et al Function 2021). More recently, we have discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein elicits Ca2+ signals in pancreatic stellate cells in situ and that these signals in turn evoke Ca2+ signals in pancreatic macrophages (Gerasimenko et al Function 2022). These effects link events in severe Acute Pancreatitis to what happens in Covid-19 and are now being explored further.

Current Research work

We continue our work to define the precise intra- and inter-cellular mechanisms driving the important human disease Acute Pancreatitis and to identify the optimal pharmacological intervention points that could prevent and/or cure this disease. We are following up an important paper in J Clin Invest (Peng et al 2018) in which we showed that galactose (a major ingredient in normal human milk) can protect very effectively against Acute Pancreatitis.

Collaborators in the School of Biosciences

* Dr Oleg Gerasimenko (Reader)

* Dr Julia Gerasimenko (Senior Lecturer)

Affiliated staff

Primary Research

Dr Oleksiy Gryschenko (Regular Visiting Senior Scientist from the Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, National Academy of Sciences Ukraine)
Dr Shuang Peng (Regular Visiting Associate Professor from Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Education/Degrees

Medical student, University of Copenhagen 1961 – 1969

Cand. Med. (Laudabilis) (MB ChB) University of Copenhagen, 1969

Authorized Medical Practitioner (Danish State Health Authority) 1969

Dr. med. (MD) University of Copenhagen, 1972, for thesis “Acetylcholine-induced ion transports involved in the formation of saliva” (Thesis published as Supplement 381 in Acta physiol scand [now Acta Physiologica] 1972)

Posts held

Assistant Professor, Institute of Medical Physiology, University of Copenhagen, 1969-73

Wellcome-Carlsberg Travelling Research Fellow, Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, UK, 1971-72 (on leave of absence from University of Copenhagen)

Associate Professor, Institute of Medical Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 1973-78

Symers Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Physiology, University of Dundee, Scotland, 1975-81 (on leave of absence from University of Copenhagen 1975-78).

Head of the Department of Physiology, University of Liverpool, 1981-1998

George Holt Professor of Physiology, University of Liverpool, England, 1981- 2009

Director (Head) of Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences, 2010 - 2015

Professor at Cardiff School of Biosciences, 2010 –

National Honours

*Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for 'Services to Science'. Award received personally from Queen Elizabeth II, at Buckingham Palace, 7th May 2008.

*Medical Research Council (UK): MRC Research Professor 1998-2017

Honorary Degree

*AL-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan, 12 April 2025

Honours and awards

Contact Details

[email protected]
+44 29208 70846
Sir Martin Evans Building, Room Cardiff School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX

External profiles

ORCID

Professor Ole Petersen CBE FRS

Teams and roles for Ole Petersen

Director of the Cardiff University - Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub

Overview

Publication

2025

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2016

2015

2014