Background

Role and Responsibilities

• Admissions Selector Biology and Zoology degrees

Qualifications

• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, Newcastle University
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• PhD, University of Bristol
• BSc Zoology, University of Bristol

Research

Research Interests

My research interests are centred on the neural and endocrine mechanisms that underpin feeding behaviour, metabolism, reproduction and stress responsiveness. I am particularly interested in how vertebrates, particularly birds, adjust their behaviour and physiology to environmental seasonality such as changes in photoperiod. I use a comparative, multi-disciplinary, approach that combines and integrates the genetic and molecular to the ecological and behavioural levels of biological organisation. In this way, I aim to gain insight into fundamental mechanisms regulating behaviour and physiology from the perspective of the whole animal. My research has involved the use of genomic technologies to identify genes in the brain involved in the control of seasonal physiology, and I have combined this with neurobiological approaches to characterise and monitor activity of neuroendocrine pathways. I am currently applying my knowledge of the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying control of food intake and stress regulation to develop novel methods for assessing welfare in chickens and other livestock based on molecular markers.

Current Projects

BBSRC (2013-2016) Developing and validating a practical screening tool for chronic stress in livestock. Collaborators: Drs. Tom Smulders and Fabio Gualtieri, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University; Drs. Rick D'Eath and Vicky Sandilands, SRUC, Scotland.

BBSRC (2014-2017) Investigating how the type and quantity of food affect foraging behaviour and the neural circuits controlling feeding in broiler breeder chickens. Collaborators: Dr. Ian Dunn, Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh; Drs. Rick D'Eath, Vicky Sandilands and Laura Dixon, SRUC, Scotland.

Google Scholar Profile

Teaching

Undergraduate

• BIO2030 Methods in Biotechnology
• BIO2034 Animal Function (Physiology and Development)
• BIO3050 Physiological Zoology
• BIO3197 Biological Literature Review
• BIO3198 Biological Information Project
• BIO3199 Biological Research Project

Postgraduate

• BIO8044 Biotechnology: Advanced Topics
• BIO8096 MSc Industrial and Commercial Biotechnology Thesis 

Publications

• Articles

  • Dixon LM, Dunn IC, Brocklehurst S, Baker L, Boswell T, Caughey SD, Reid A, Sandilands V, Wilson PW, D'Eath RB. The effects of feed restriction, time of day, and time since feeding on behavioral and physiological indicators of hunger in broiler breeder hens. Poultry Science 2022, 101(5), 101838.
  • Armstrong EA, Richards-Rios P, Addison L, Sandilands V, Guy JH, Wigley P, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Poor body condition is associated with lower hippocampal plasticity and higher gut methanogen abundance in adult laying hens from two housing systems. Scientific Reports 2022, 12(1), 15505.
  • Armstrong EA, Rufener C, Toscano MJ, Eastham JE, Guy JH, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Keel bone fractures induce a depressive-like state in laying hens. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 3007.
  • Armstrong EA, Voelkl B, Voegeli S, Gebhardt-Henrich SG, Guy JH, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Toscano MJ, Smulders TV. Cell proliferation in the adult chicken hippocampus correlates with individual differences in time spent in outdoor areas and tonic immobility. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020, 7, 587.
  • Poirier C, Bateson M, Gualtieri F, Armstrong EA, Laws GC, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Validation of hippocampal biomarkers of cumulative affective experience. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 2019, 101, 113-121.
  • Gualtieri F, Armstrong EA, Longmoor GK, D'Eath RB, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Suppresses the Incorporation of New Neurons at the Caudal Pole of the Chicken Hippocampal Formation. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 7129.
  • Smulders TV, Boswell T, Henderson LJ. “How Foraging Works”: Let's not forget the physiological mechanisms of energy balance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2019, 42, e51.
  • Caughey SD, Wilson PW, Mukhtar N, Brocklehurst S, Reid A, D'Eath RB, Boswell T, Dunn IC. Sex differences in basal hypothalamic anorectic and orexigenic gene expression and the effect of quantitative and qualitative food restriction. Biology of Sex Differences 2018, 9, 20.
  • Henderson LJ, Cockcroft RC, Kaiya H, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Peripherally injected ghrelin and leptin reduce food hoarding and mass gain in the coal tit (Periparus ater). Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2018, 285(1879), 20180417.
  • Boswell T, Dunn IC. Regulation of agouti-related protein and pro-opiomelanocortin gene expression in the avian arcuate nucleus. Frontiers in Endocrinology 2017, 8, 75.
  • Reid AMA, Wilson PW, Caughey SD, Dixon LM, D'Eath RB, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Dunn IC. Pancreatic PYY but not PPY expression is responsive to short-term nutritional state and the pancreas constitutes the major site of PYY mRNA expression in chickens. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2017, 252, 226-235.
  • Robertson BA, Rathbone L, Cirillo G, D'Eath RB, Bateson M, Boswell T, Wilson PW, Dunn IC, Smulders TV. Food restriction reduces neurogenesis in the avian hippocampal formation. PLoS ONE 2017, 12(12), e0189158.
  • Gualtieri F, Brégère C, Laws GC, Armstrong EA, Wylie NJ, Moxham TT, Guzman R, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Doublecortin and BDNF Expression along the Dorso-Ventral Axis of the Dentate Gyrus. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2017, 11, 488.
  • Dunn IC, Wilson PW, D'Eath RB, Boswell T. Hypothalamic Agouti-Related Peptide mRNA is Elevated During Natural and Stress-Induced Anorexia. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 2015, 27(9), 681-691.
  • Dunn IC, Wilson PW, Smulders TV, Sandilands V, D'Eath RB, Boswell T. Hypothalamic Agouti-Related Protein Expression Is Affected by Both Acute and Chronic Experience of Food Restriction and Re-Feeding in Chickens. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 2013, 25(10), 920-928.
  • Graham G, Sharp PJ, Li Q, Wilson PW, Talbot RT, Downing A, Boswell T. HSP90B1, a thyroid hormone-responsive heat shock protein gene involved in photoperiodic signaling. Brain Research Bulletin 2009, 79(3-4), 201-207.
  • Holberton RL, Boswell T, Hunter MJ. Circulating prolactin and corticosterone concentrations during the development of migratory condition in the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2008, 155(3), 641-649.
  • Tachibana T, Oikawa D, Takahashi H, Boswell T, Furuse M. The anorexic effect of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone is mediated by corticotrophin-releasing factor in chicks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 2007, 147(1), 173-178.
  • Liu X, Dunn IC, Sharp PJ, Boswell T. Molecular cloning and tissue distribution of a short form chicken leptin receptor mRNA. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 2007, 32(3), 155-166.
  • Tachibana T, Oikawa D, Adachi N, Boswell T, Furuse M. Intracerebroventricular injection of glucagon-like peptide-1 changes lipid metabolism in chicks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 2007, 147(4), 1104-1108.
  • Tachibana T, Oikawa D, Adachi N, Boswell T, Furuse M. Central administration of vasoactive intestinal peptide and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide differentially regulates energy metabolism in chicks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 2007, 147(1), 156-164.
  • Tachibana T, Oikawa D, Adachi N, Boswell T, Furuse M. Central administration of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone changes lipid metabolism in chicks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 2007, 148(2), 408-412.
  • Bromee T, Sjodin P, Fredriksson R, Boswell T, Larsson TA, Salaneck E, Zoorob R, Mohell N, Larhammar D. Neuropeptide Y-family receptors Y6 and Y7 in chicken: Cloning, pharmacological characterization, tissue distribution and conserved synteny with human chromosome region. FEBS Journal 2006, 273(9), 2048-2063.
  • Tachibana T, Sato M, Oikawa D, Takahashi H, Boswell T, Furuse M. Intracerebroventricular injection of neuropeptide Y modifies carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in chicks. Regulatory Peptides 2006, 136(1-3), 1-8.
  • Boswell T, Dunn IC, Wilson PW, Joseph N, Burt DW, Sharp PJ. Identification of a non-mammalian leptin-like gene: Characterization and expression in the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). General and Comparative Endocrinology 2006, 146(2), 157-166.
  • Boswell T. Regulation of energy balance in birds by the neuroendocrine hypothalamus. Journal of Poultry Science 2005, 42(3), 161-181.
  • Boswell T, Takeuchi S. Recent developments in our understanding of the avian melanocortin system: Its involvement in the regulation of pigmentation and energy homeostasis. Peptides 2005, 26(10), 1733-1743.
  • Ciccone NA, Dunn IC, Boswell T, Tsutsui K, Ubuka T, Ukena K, Sharp PJ. Gonadotrophin inhibitory hormone depresses gonadotrophin α and follicle-stimulating hormone β subunit expression in the pituitary of the domestic chicken. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 2005, 16(12), 999-1006.
  • Tachibana T, Tsukada T, Fujimoto M, Takahashi H, Ohkubo T, Boswell T, Furuse M. Comparison of mammalian prolactin-releasing peptide and Carassius RFamide for feeding behavior and prolactin secretion in chicks. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2005, 144(3), 264-269.
  • Tachibana T, Saito S, Tomonaga S, Takagi T, Saito E-S, Nakanishi T, Koutoku T, Tsukada A, Ohkubo T, Boswell T, Furuse M. Effect of central administration of prolactin-releasing peptide on feeding in chicks. Physiology & Behavior 2004, 80(5), 713-719.
  • Tachibana T, Saito E-S, Takahashi H, Saito S, Tomonaga S, Boswell T, Furuse M. Anorexigenic effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide and vasoactive intestinal peptide in the chick brain are mediated by corticotrophin-releasing factor. Regulatory Peptides 2004, 120(1-3), 99-105.
  • Tachibana T, Tomonaga S, Oikawa D, Saito S, Takagi T, Saito E-S, Boswell T, Furuse M. Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide and vasoactive intestinal peptide inhibit feeding in the chick brain by different mechanisms. Neuroscience Letters 2003, 348(1), 25-28.
  • Tachibana T, Saito S, Tomonaga S, Takagi T, Saito E-S, Boswell T, Furuse M. Intracerebroventricular injection of vasoactive intestinal peptide and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide inhibits feeding in chicks. Neuroscience Letters 2003, 339(3), 203-206.
  • Phillips-Singh D, Li Q, Takeuchi S, Ohkubo T, Sharp PJ, Boswell T. Fasting differentially regulates expression of agouti-related peptide, pro-opiomelanocortin, prepro-orexin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide mRNAs in the hypothalamus of Japanese quail. Cell and Tissue Research 2003, 313(2), 217-225.
  • Takeuchi S, Takahashi S, Okimoto R, Schiöth HB, Boswell T. Avian Melanocortin System: α-MSH May Act as an Autocrine/Paracrine Hormone: a mini review. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: The Melanocortin System 2003, 994(1), 366-372.
  • Holmberg SKS, Mikko S, Boswell T, Zoorob R, Larhammar D. Pharmacological characterization of cloned chicken neuropeptide Y receptors Y1 and Y5. Journal of Neurochemistry 2002, 81(3), 462-471.
  • Boswell T, Li Q, Takeuchi S. Neurons expressing neuropeptide Y mRNA in the infundibular hypothalamus of Japanese quail are activated by fasting and co-express agouti-related protein mRNA. Molecular Brain Research 2002, 100(1-2), 31-42.
  • Ohkubo T, Boswell T, Lumineau S. Molecular cloning of chicken prepro-orexin cDNA and preferential expression in the chicken hypothalamus. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 2002, 1577(3), 476-480.
  • Lundell I, Boswell T, Larhammar D. Chicken neuropeptide Y-family receptor Y4: a receptor with equal affinity for pancreatic polypeptide, neuropeptide Y and peptide YY. Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 2002, 28(3), 225-235.
  • Teshigawara K, Takahashi S, Boswell T, Li Q, Tanaka S, Takeuchi S. Identification of avian alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the eye: temporal and spatial regulation of expression in the developing chicken. Journal of Endocrinology 2001, 168(3), 527-537.
  • Dunn IC, Boswell T, Friedman-Einat M, Eshdat Y, Burt DW, Paton IR. Mapping of the leptin receptor gene (LEPR) to chicken chromosome 8. Animal Genetics 2000, 31(4), 290.
  • Richardson RD, Boswell T, Woods SC, Wingfield JC. Intracerebroventricular corticotropin-releasing factor decreases food intake in white-crowned sparrows. Physiology & Behavior 2000, 71(1-2), 213-216.
  • Salaneck E, Holmberg SK, Berglund MM, Boswell T, Larhammar D. Chicken neuropeptide Y receptor Y2: structural and pharmacological differences to mammalian Y2. FEBS Letters 2000, 484(3), 229-234.
  • Friedman-Einat M, Boswell T, Horev G, Girishvarma G, Dunn IC, Talbot RT, Sharp PJ. The chicken leptin gene: has it been cloned?. General and Comparative Endocrinology 1999, 115(3), 354-363.
  • Boswell T, Nicholson MA, Bünger L. Neuropeptide Y gene expression in lines of mice subjected to long-term divergent selection on fat content. Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 1999, 23, 77-83.
  • Boswell T, Dunn IC, Corr SA. Hypothalamic neuropeptide Y mRNA is increased after food restriction in growing broilers. Poultry Science 1999, 78(8), 1203-1207.
  • Lumineau, S., Guyomarc’h, C., Boswell, T., Richard, J.-P., Leray, D. Induction of circadian rhythm of feeding activity by testosterone implantations in arrhythmic Japanese quail males. Journal of Biological Rhythms 1998, 13, 278-287.
  • Boswell, T., Li, Q. Cholecystokinin induces Fos expression in the brain of the Japanese quail. Hormones and Behavior 1998, 34, 56-66.
  • Boswell, T., Millam, J.R., Li, Q., Dunn, I.C. Cellular localization of neuropeptide Y mRNA and peptide in the brain of the Japanese quail and domestic chicken. Cell and Tissue Research 1998, 293, 31-38.
  • Hahn, T.P., Boswell, T., Wingfield, J.C., Ball, G.F. Temporal flexibility in avian reproduction: patterns and mechanisms. Current Ornithology 1997, 14, 39-80.
  • Boswell, T., Lehman, T.L., Ramenofsky, M. Effects of plasma glucose manipulations on food intake in white-crowned sparrows. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 1997, 118A, 721-726.
  • Boswell, T., Hall, M.R. and Goldsmith, A.R. Testosterone is secreted extra-gonadally by European quail maintained on short days. Physiological Zoology 1995, 68(967-984).
  • Boswell, T., Richardson, R.D., Seeley, R.J., Wingfield, J.C., Friedman, M.I., Woods, S.C. Regulation of food intake by metabolic fuels in white-crowned sparrows. American Journal of Physiology 1995, 269, R1462-R1468.
  • Richardson, R.D., Boswell, T., Rafferty, B.D., Seeley, R.J., Wingfield, J.C., Woods, S.C. NPY increases food intake in white-crowned sparrows: effect in short and long photoperiods. American Journal of Physiology 1995, 268, R1418-R1422.
  • Boswell, T., Sharp, P.J., Hall, M.R., Goldsmith, A.R. Migratory fat deposition in European quail: a role for prolactin?. Journal of Endocrinology 1995, 146, 71-79.
  • Boswell, T., Kenagy, G.J., Woods, S.C. Seasonal changes in body mass, insulin and glucocorticoids of free-living golden-mantled ground squirrels. General and Comparative Endocrinology 1994, 96, 339-346.
  • Glue, D.E., Boswell, T. Comparative nesting ecology of the three British breeding woodpeckers. British Birds 1994, 87, 253-269.
  • Boswell, T., Richardson, R.D., Schwartz, M.W., D'Alessio, D.A., Woods, S.C., Sipols, A.J., Baskin, D.G., Kenagy, G.J. NPY and galanin in a hibernator: hypothalamic gene expression and effects on feeding. Brain Research Bulletin 1993, 32, 379-384.
  • Richardson, R.D., Boswell, T., Weatherford, S.C., Wingfield, J.C., Woods, S.C. Cholecystokinin octapeptide decreases food intake in white-crowned sparrows. American Journal of Physiology 1993, 264, R852-R856.
  • Boswell, T., Hall, M.R., Goldsmith, A.R. Annual cycles of migratory fattening, reproduction and moult in European quail (Coturnix coturnix). Journal of Zoology, London 1993, 231, 627-644.
  • Richardson, R.D., Boswell, T. A method for third ventricular cannulation of small passerine birds. Physiology & Behavior 1993, 53, 209-213.

• Book Chapters

  • Boswell T. Molecular aspects of leptin in the chicken. In: Paolucci, M, ed. Leptin in non-mammalian vertebrates. Kerala, India: Transworld Research Network, 2010, pp.79-93.
  • Boswell T. Food intake: behavioral endocrinology. In: Breed, M.D., Moore, J, ed. Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. Oxford, UK: Academic Press, 2010, pp.738-743.
  • Boswell T. Regulation of feeding by neuropeptide Y. In: Dawson, A., Chaturvedi, C.M, ed. Avian Endocrinology. New Delhi, India: Narosa Publishing House, 2001, pp.349-360.
  • Dunn IC, Girishvarma G, Talbot RT, Waddington D, Boswell T, Sharp PJ. Evidence for low homology between the chicken and mammalian leptin genes. In: Dawson, A., Chaturvedi, C.M, ed. Avian Endocrinology. New Delhi, India: Narosa Publishing House, 2001, pp.327-336.
  • Boswell, T., Kenagy, G.J. Hypothalamic neuropeptides, metabolic hormones and seasonal fattening in golden-mantled ground squirrels. In: Carey, C.; Florant, G.L.; Wunder, B.A.; Horwitz, B, ed. Life in the Cold III: ecological, physiological, and molecular mechanisms. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press, 1993, pp.493-500.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Henderson LJ, Cockcroft RC, Kaiya H, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Peripherally injected ghrelin and leptin reduce food hoarding and mass gain in the coal tit (Periparus ater). In: SICB Annual Meeting 2016. 2016, Portland, Oregon: Oxford University Press.

• Editorial

  • Sharp PJ, Dunn IC, Waddington D, Boswell T. Chicken leptin. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2008, 158(1), 2-4.

• Reviews

  • Boswell T, Dunn IC. Regulation of the avian central melanocortin system and the role of leptin. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2015, 221, 278-283.
  • Cornelius JM, Boswell T, Jenni-Eiermann S, Breuner CW, Ramenofsky M. Contributions of endocrinology to the migration life history of birds. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2013, 190, 47-60.