Our academic staff

Dr Nick Aldred

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Professor Selwa Alsam

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Hospital-related Infections; Microorganisms (Bacteria, Fungi and Parasites); Cytotoxic effects on Cell Lines; MRSA, the leading cause of nosocomial infections; Respiratory Tract Infections including Cystic Fibrosis and Pneumonia; Blood Brain Barrier; Pathogenic Mechanisms; Free-living amoeba (Acanthamoeba), the causative agent of keratitis and encephalitis; Urinary Tract Infections; Gastrointestinal Tract Infections and Food Poisoning; Wound Infections; Ageing-associated Infections; Trojan Horse; Novel Therapeutic Techniques; Antimicrobial resistance; Medicinal Plants

Dr Timothy Barrow

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; Cancer epigenetics; Colorectal cancer; Environmental epigenetics; Epigenetic ageing

Professor Vassiliy Bavro

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Membrane protein crystallography; Antimicrobial Resistance; Integrative structural biology approaches; Ion channels; Metal transport in bacteria; Antigen target selection and vaccine development

Professor Louise Beard

Faculty Dean Undergraduate (Science and Health) - Professor, School of Life Sciences

Dr Penny Beckerson

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Dr James Birrell

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: [FeFe] hydrogenase structure and mechanism; Flavin-based electron-bifurcation; Biogeochemical cycling of hydrogen and carbon monoxide

Dr Greg Brooke

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Identification and characterisation of factors that promote tumour growth and therapy resistance in prostate and breast cancer; The development of novel treatment options for breast and prostate cancer; Development of genetic probes based on GFP for non-invasive detection and quantification of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in subcellular compartments; Reducing racial disparities in prostate cancer

Professor Thomas Cameron

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Demographic responses to Harvesting - sustainability of Fisheries and Wildlife Harvest; Animal movement and dispersal; Eco-evolution of population and community dynamics; Ecology and ecosystem function of shellfish communities including Aquaculture; Estuarine ecology, global change and European oyster restoration; Socio-ecological tradeoffs in conservation with a focus on Public Access and nature recovery; Waterfowl ecology

Dr Amanda Cavanagh

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Biochemical limitations of photosynthesis; Natural Variation in Carbon Assimilation; Improving photosynthesis to increase yield

Dr David Clark

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Quantitative ecology; Microbial ecology; Macroecology; Modeling and Statistics; Bioinformatics; Next Generation Sequencing

Professor Ian Colbeck

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: physico-chemical properties of aerosols; indoor air quality and health impacts of aerosols; nanoparticles in the environment; environment - society interactions; Characterization of microbial communities in bioaerosols

Dr Joaquin De Navascues

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Molecular regulation of cell fate decisions; Tissue stem cells; Late radiation toxicity and Normal tissue damage; Radiobiology (focus on in vivo approaches); Tissue homeostasis; Regulation of gene expression; Transgenic technologies; Cell differentiation

Dr Paul Dobbin

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Professor Alex Dumbrell

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Community ecology (focus on microbial systems); Theoretical ecology (focus on models of biodiversity); Molecular ecology (focus on next generation sequencing); Macroecology (focus on examining patterns of biodiversity in microbial systems); Spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity; Biodiversity-Ecosystem service/function relationships; Species abundance distributions and species area relationships; Biodiversity models (ie niche and neutral theories); Next generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics in ecological research; Metagenetics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics; Ecoinformatics; Soil biodiversity and function; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and other symbiotic systems

Dr Marcus Edwards

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Bacterial Extracellular Electron Transfer; Protein Biochemistry (focus on metalloproteins); Biotechnology (focus on microbial biotechnology); Molecular Biology (focus on microbial systems); Microbiology (focus on electroactive microbes); Structural Biology (focus on metalloproteins)

Dr Hannah Epstein

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Coral Reef Ecology; Microbial Ecology; Tropical Marine Biology; Coral Reef Climate Resilience

Dr John Ferguson

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Field crops research; Crop Phenomics; Carbon metabolism

Dr Robert Ferguson

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Microbial Ecology of Anaerobic Digestion/Wastewater treatment; Microbial Degradation of oil hydrocarbons; Nanoparticles; Bioaerosols; Molecular Microbial Ecology; Environmental microbiology and human health; Molecular Ecology; Next generation sequencing and bioinformatics; Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment; Metagenetics, metagenomics

Professor Nelson Fernandez

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Dr Efstathios (Stathis) Giotis

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Tropism determinants of emerging flaviviruses; The asymptomatic persistence of zoonotic viruses in bats

Professor Leanne Hepburn

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Marine Science

Dr Natalie Hicks

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Marine Benthic Biogeochemistry; Carbon cycling; Blue carbon; Carbon sequestration; Climate change in marine ecosystems; Marine Artificial Structures

Dr Jennifer Hoyal Cuthill

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Biological machine learning; Computational palaeobiology; Quantifying evolutionary convergence; Ediacaran palaeobiology and palaeoecology

Dr Philippe Laissue

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Imaging specialist (across phyla); Development of genetic probes based on GFP for non-invasive detection and quantification of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in subcellular compartments; ROS signalling in plants and mammalian cells; Biofilm development at multiple scales; Methods to assess and minimise phototoxicity in live fluorescence microscopy; Developing tools for quantified image analysis

Professor Tracy Lawson

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Plant ecophysiology; Electron transport and photosynthesis; Stomatal physiology, control of gas exchange and carbon metabolism; Plant growth and water use efficiency; Interaction between plants and their microclimate; Genetic manipulation of guard cell metabolism; Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging; Thermal imaging; Algal/cyanobacterial physiology; Photosynthesis and Nitrogen fixation; Ocean acidification, including tecniques to measure carbonate chemistry; Chlorophyll fluorescence; Systems biology led modelling of high light responses in Arabidopsis

Dr Antonio Marco

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Evolution is driven by changes in the genome, not only in their gene products but in their regulatory interactions. My research interest is in evolutionary genomics with a strong focus on gene regulatory mechanisms.;

Professor Terence McGenity

Head of School - Professor (R), School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Activities of, and interactions between, microbes and their effects on past and present environments; Carbon cycling in marine, estuarine and soil environments, e.g. isoprene degradation and production, hydrocarbon cycling, and cycling of extracellular polymeric substances; Bioremediation and pollution microbiology, e.g. microbial ecology of petroleum hydrocarbon-polluted marine, groundwater and soil environments; Extremophiles & Astrobiology, e.g. the influence of high salt concentrations, different types of solute, and multiple stressors on microbial physiology and ecology; Biotechnological applications of extremophiles; Long-term survival of microorganisms and preservation of cellular macromolecules; Environmental Microbiology; Isoprene Cycling

Dr Boyd McKew

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: environmental molecular microbiology:; Synthetic Biology - Designing and constructing new biological devices and systems for enhanced bioremediation of marine oil pollution; Pollution microbiology, e.g. Microbial biodegradation of crude oil and hydrocarbons; Physiology and ecology of the obligate Hydrocarbon degrading Bacteria; Carbon & nitrogen cycling in marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments; Algal and bacterial physiology

Dr Metodi Metodiev

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: cell signalling; biological mass spectrometry; cancer biology

Dr Andrea Mohr

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Tumour Progression; Mesenchymal Stem Cell based Therapies

Dr Eoin O'Gorman

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Climate change; Food webs

Dr Angela Pine

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: HPV and HPV-related cancers; Diagnostic development; Therapeutic design & development; Nanoparticle delivery of nucleic acid based treatments; Human microbiomes and disease (focus on microbiomes of the female reproductive tract); Mental health impact of HPV/HPV-related cancer diagnosis; Patient experiences of the NHS cervical screening programme in England, Scotland, and Wales; Awareness and knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer; Assessing the mental health impact of an HPV diagnosis; Role of the vaginal micro and mycobiomes in HPV persistence.; HPV and cervical cancer awareness and prevention in Bihar, India

Professor Christine Raines

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Transgenic manipulation of leaf carbon metabolism to imporve crop yield; The role of plant biotechnology in the production of plants for improved yield for food and fuel; Photosynthetic carbon metabolism and links to thiamine biosynthesis; Regualtion of the Calvin Benson Cycle by the CP12 protein

Dr Brandon Reeder

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Biochemical and Biomedical based-research, particularly in the role of proteins in health and disease.; Metalloproteins in health and disease:; The next generation of blood substitutes; Role of human cytoglobin in lipid binding, lipid oxidation, cell signalling and cancer therapy resistance.; Role of neuroglobin in cell signalling and cell protection in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers.; Biochemical mechanisms oxidative stress in acute renal failure following rhabdomyolysis and delayed vasospasm following subarachnoid haemorrhage.; Cell signalling by oxidatively modified lipids and formation of singlet oxygen resulting from lipid oxidation.; Developing novel compounds as ameliorators of haemoprotein-induced oxidative reactions.

Dr Philip Reeves

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Structural properties and activation mechanism of rhodopsin, the dim-light human photoreceptor (details); Biosynthesis and cellular targeting of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs); Development of gene expression systems for large-scale production and purification of membrane proteins (details); Molecular mechanisms of Retinitis Pigmentosa caused by inherited mutations in rhodopsin

Professor Leonard Schalkwyk

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Genomic and epigenomic methods and software; Epigenomics and the environment; Alzheimers disease; Schizophrenia

Dr Andrew Simkin

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Crop Nutrition (Focus on fruit and crops); Secondary Metabolism (focus on carotenoids and vitamins); Primary Metabolism (non-foliar photosynthesis); Primary Metabolism (photosynthesis, photorespiration, electron transport)); Plant Pharming (Plant based antibodies and vaccines); Genetic manipulation of guard cell metabolism; Genetic Modification for improved crop production

Dr Pallavi Singh

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Understanding and Enhancing Water Use in C4 Plants; Cereal Grafting: A research tool to understand plant physiology and genetics; Identifying Guard Cell Specific Promoters in Cereals; Single cell functional genomics

Dr Benjamin Skinner

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Analysis of biological shapes; Evolution of sex chromosomes; Phylogenetics of fertility related genes

Dr Nicola Slee

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: 1998 2001 Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex; Genetic manipulation of the control of photosynthesis by SBPase Project. Work involved developing protocols for transforming, screening and analyzing wild-type and anti-sense tobacco plants.; 1995 - 1997 Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex; Working on MAPLE project (Micro evolutionary adaptation of plants to elevated CO2). Work involved establishing experimental design & methodology; implementation of research; evaluation of results, collaboration with other research groups in EU working on MAPLE project.; 1993 - 1994 Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex; Review the literature and establish a database for work published on FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) experiments; 1990 1992 Dept. of Pathology & Microbiology, University of Bristol: Project investigated the use of molecular biology to provide further diagnostic and prognostic data on childhood tumours This information was used in conjunction with the more standard clinical tests to provide a tailor-made treatment for each patient.

Professor David Smith

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Florini, Stella (2004) Water Pollution; Perkins, Nicola (2005) Water Pollution; Pilgrim, Sarah (2007) Ecoliteracy; Cullen, Leanne (2007) Reef Economics; Unsworth, Richard (2007) Seagrass and Mangrove Connectivity; McMellor, Steven (2008) Coral reef conservation; Miller, Layla (2009) Shellfisheries; Hennige, Sebastian (2009) Coral photophysiology; Salinas De Leon, Pelayo (2010) Coral recruitment; Sedlmayr, Ambra (2011) Rural economies; Green, Benjamin (2011) Coastal vegetated systems; Bharucha Zareen (2011) Watershed development; Curtis-Quick, Jocelyn (2012) Coral reef fish ecology; Brading, Patrick (2012) Coral physiology and ocean acidification; Powell, Abigail (2012) Coral reef sponge ecology; Hine, Rachel (2014) Care farming; Franco, Chiara (2014) Coral reef production; Piercy, Julius (2014) Coral reef acoustics; Walsh-Sarah-Jane ( 2015) Coral bleaching; Camp, Emma (2015) Coral reefs and ocean acidification; Chamberlain, Jon (2015) Coral reef ecology; Boschetti, Simona (2015) Coral recruitment; Osman, Eslam (2017) Red Sea corals and climate change; Ms Sophie Stephenson (2017) Coral larval production and development; Biggerstaff, Andy (2017) Coral Bioeroding sponges Hosted by UoV, NZ; Tavallali, Leila (Active) Blue Carbon and temperate saltmarshes; Gouraguine, Adam (Active) Coral reef benthic &ndash pelagic coupling; Urrutia Figueroa, Victor E (Active) Coral Host - Zooxanthellae relationships; Marlow, Joe (Active) Coral reef invading sponge Hosted by UoV, NZ; McGrath, Emily (Active) Xestospongia ecophysiology Hosted by UoV, NZ; Ms Bethen Greenword (Active) The coral microbiome and stress tolerance; Ms Reem Almealla (Acvtive) Corals of Bahrain; Ms Synthesa Ksatrya (Active) Indonesias ocean policy; Ms Amy Wong (Active) Coral reef fish functional ecology

Dr Michael Steinke

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Signalling in microbial foodwebs; Ecology of traces gases in the infochemistry of phytoplankton; Chemodetection of DMS in zooplankton and benthic invertebrates; Production of biogenic trace gases under future CO2 levels; Metabolic pathways for DMSP-dependent DMS-production; Role of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) and related compounds in the stress-physiology of zooxanthellae-cnidarian symbioses; Production of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and isoprene in coral reef ecosystems; Production of ethene (ethylene) in marine algae and its possible function as an infochemical

Dr Anna Sturrock

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Isotope ecology and biomineral chemistry; Habitat, flow and fisheries management in a changing climate; Fish ecology and management; Fish migration ecology in a changing climate

Dr Dimitri Svistunenko

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: My research interests are centred on proteins and enzymes with particular reference to their paramagnetism. A molecule is called paramagnetic if it has an odd number of electrons. Usually, electrons in molecules come in pairs, so an even number of electrons in most chemical structures is typical. But for many biologically important molecules involved in redox reactions, there must exist states which are one electron more or one electron less than the stable even number of electrons state. These molecular states of odd number of electrons (the paramagnetic states!) are chemically active and are major players in proteins and enzymes mechanisms. Thus we study these states of enzymes and proteins to understand how they work and to elucidate their role in normal metabolism and in some pathological situations.; Haptoglobin complex with haemoglobin; Haem containing globins; Ferritins

Dr Michelle Taylor

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Deep-sea / marine connectivity; Speciation; Population genomics; Phylogenomics

Dr Vlad Teif

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Modelling gene regulation; Cancer epigenetics; Stem cell differentiation; Nucleosome positioning; Transcription factor binding; Liquid biopsies based on cell-free DNA; Augmented reality tools for education and science outreach

Professor Graham Underwood

Acting Executive Dean (Science and Health) - Professor (R), School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Microalgae (diatom) biofilm ecology and physiology; Estuarine ecology and functioning (fish, shellfish and invertebrates); sea ice microbiology and organic carbon cycling; The ecology of microphytobenthos (benthic microalgae) in coastal ecosystems,

Dr Patrick Varga Weisz

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Current Research Interests; Genome regulation by genome packaging

Dr Aurelie Villedieu

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Professor Corinne Whitby

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Bioaerosols; biogeochemical cycling; Hydrocarbon biodegradation

Dr Martin Wilkes

Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Biodiversity science and ecological modelling in freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

Professor Jonathan Worrall

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Microbial Biotechnology; Copper homeostasis in Streptomyces; Lipid induced apoptosis; Structural Biochemistry

Dr Gareth Wright

Lecturer, School of Life Sciences

Dr Ralf Zwacka

Reader, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Mesenchymal stem cells and cancer therapy; Apoptosis pathways and treatment resistance mechansims in cancer; Cell death regulation in stem cells; Redox-regulated pathways in cancer and stem cells

Professor Neil Baker

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Factors determining efficiency of light utilisation in photosynthesis; Effects of environmental stress on photosynthesis; Spatial heterogeneity of chloroplast development and photosynthesis in leaves under environmental stress; Developing crops for improved tolerance to environmental stresses, particularly oxidative stress; Signalling responses in leaves exposed to photo-oxidative stresses; The mechanistic basis of ozone damage to leaves; The effects of UV-B radiation on cell development and photosynthesis in crops, natural vegetation and microalgae; The effects of low temperatures on photosynthesis, chloroplast and leaf development in C4 plants, particularly maize; Photosynthesis of individual cells comprising microphytobenthic biofilms

Professor Richard Cherry

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Development of novel techniques based on ultrasensitive digital fluorescence imaging to study cell surface receptors.; Measurement of lateral mobility of membrane proteins by single particle tracking.; Measurement of receptor associations in membranes.; Mobility and associations of immunological receptors.

Professor Ian Colbeck

Professor, School of Life Sciences

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: physico-chemical properties of aerosols; indoor air quality and health impacts of aerosols; nanoparticles in the environment; environment - society interactions; Characterization of microbial communities in bioaerosols

Professor Christopher Cooper

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Emeritus Professor, School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences

Professor Richard Geider

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Adaptation, acclimation and regulation of algal photosynthesis; Quantitative phytoplankton (microalgal) growth models; Growth & photosynthesis in microalgae and cyanoibacteria; Photosynthesis & calcification in coccolithophores; Biophysical measurements of primary productivity; Nutrient limitation (N, P, Fe) of primary productivity and nitrogen fixation

Professor Tom Hall

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Professor Elena Klenova

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: My main research interests lie in the areas of regulation of transcription and molecular mechanisms of tumourigenesis.; We study the biological role of two related proteins, CTCF and BORIS, in genetics, epigenetics and disease, particularly, in tumourigenesis. CTCF and BORIS belong to a group of Zinc Finger transcription factors and share an identical DNA binding domain. Although related, CTCF and BORIS have different functions. CTCF has properties of a tumour suppressor, whereas BORIS has features of an oncogene. CTCF is present in various cell types, whereas BORIS normally is found only in the testis. Importantly, BORIS is activated in many cancers and could potentially be used as cancer biomarker.; My research projectshave beenfunded by various granting bodies, which include Councils and Charities such as The Medical Research Council (MRC), The Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, Association for International Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Campaign, Association for International Cancer Research, BreastCancer Research Trust, NHSand others.;

Prof Phillip Mullineaux

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Coordination of stress defence signalling and development by heat shock transcription factors; Drought responsive gene expression in legumes and Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress); Identification of novel genes and processes from C3 desert plants that can be exploited for biotechnological applications; Systems biology led modelling of high light responses in Arabidopsis; Development of genetic probes based on GFP for non-invasive detection and quantification of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in subcellular compartments

Professor Dave Nedwell

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: ecology of aquatic microorganisms and the ecological role of sediment bacteria, particularly in estuarine and marine sediments, and in peat soils; cycling of C, N and S in estuaries, in mangrove swamps and in Antarctic environments; production of trace gases (CH4, N2O, DMS) by bacteria in aquatic environments, and their exchange with the atmosphere; processes controlling production and oxidation of CH4 by bacteria in peat bogs and in landfill sites; physiological response of bacteria to temperature, particularly low temperature; ecophysiology of denitrifying bacteria; influence of transient environmental conditions on competition and survival; multidisciplinary approaches to ecological research; Estuarine ecology; Trace gas formation; Antarctic microbiology; Application of molecular techniques in microbial ecology

Professor John Norton

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: Molecular mechanisms in tumourigenesis: the role of Id helix-loop-helix proteins and RNA-binding proteins in cell growth, differentiation and tumourigenesis; Dissecting transcriptional regulatory networks in cancer; Development of molecular markers for cancer diagnostics

Professor Glyn Stanway

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences

Research interests: molecular virology of medically important picornaviruses, particularly coxsackievirus A9, parechoviruses and rhinoviruses; virus cell receptor interactions; RNA structures involved in replication; parechovirus and enterovirus molecular biology; Picornaviridae evolution and classification; translation and processing in picornaviruses; cell biology of virus infection; virotherapy of cancer; antivirus drugs

Professor Michael Wilson

Emeritus Professor, School of Life Sciences