Dr Keeble's research is concerned with links between sensory nerves and disease.

Her current work is particularly focused on the role of the Transient Receptor Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptor in inflammation and thermoregulation.

TRPV1 is located on a subset of C-fibre and Aδ sensory neurons and is intrinsically associated with pain and inflammation. It is often considered an integrator of noxious stimuli, e.g. noxious heat (>43ºC) and extracellular protons (pH<6.0). Most people think they have never heard of TRPV1, but are actually acquainted with it without realising.

Capsaicin, the pungent component of hot chilli peppers, is the most recognised agonist of the TRPV1 receptor. Thus, when we eat a very hot curry, TRPV1 is responsible for the painful, burning sensation.

Intriguingly, Dr Keeble and her group have found that TRPV1 is pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, depending on the disease, i.e. it is pro-inflammatory in arthritis but anti-inflammatory in sepsis.

They are currently also trying to determine the mechanisms underlying TRPV1 antagonist-induced hyperthermia. They recently discovered that TRPV1 controls activity of the sympathetic nervous system in the regulation of body temperature.