Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology

I was appointed as a Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at Keele University in October 2007.  I graduated with a BSc (Hons) from the University of Salford before embarking on a research career driven by my interest in the role of the vascular endothelium in pathology. 
My career started as Research Assistant at University of Wales College of Medicine at Cardiff before I joined Professor Savage’s group at the University of Birmingham.  Here, I completed a PhD in Medicine, studying the mechanisms of leukocyte recruitment and retention in renal inflammation.  I continued in Professor Savage’s group as a post-doctoral scientist investigating the role of chemokines and adhesion molecules in renal inflammation.  I went on to investigate mechanisms of neutrophil transmigration through endothelial cell monolayers under laminar flow in Professor Gerard Nash’s group, also at the University of Birmingham.
In 2002, I turned my focus on the role of the endothelium in Malaria pathogenesis and joined Professor Alister Craig’s group at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.  Here, I investigated mechanisms of malarial cytoadhesion to the endothelium in vitro, under static and also under laminar flow conditions, leading to a number of successful collaborations.

ISTM research theme: Infection, Inflammation & Immunity

Broadly my research interests include on the post-adhesive, phenotypic, functional and transcriptional changes in endothelial cells, induced by Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells, in severe malaria. 
My research laboratory is established within the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology).
My current research focuses on post-adhesive events in brain microvascular endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier, using in vitro model systems, with a view to understanding the mechanisms underlying the disruption of the blood-brain barrier integrity in cerebral malaria.
Previous studies involved microarray analysis of the endothelial cell transcriptome and resulted in a successful collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, as part of the Wellcome Trust Functional Genomics Initiative in Malaria at Liverpool School of Tropical medicine.
My research at Keele University has been supported by awards from the North Staffordshire Medical Institute, The Wingate Foundation and Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine at Keele University.

Current PhD students:
Principal supervisor to: Mohd Hamzah Mohd Nasir (co-supervisor: Prof. Gwyn Williams)
Co-supervisor to: Emma Shardlow (Principal supervisor: Prof Christopher Exley)

Undergraduate modules:

• LSC-30036: Human Parasitology: (Module Manager)
• LSC-30028: Advances in Medicine: (Module Manager)
• LSC-30015: Biology of Disease
• LSC-30031/30008/30004: Research project (Experimental)
• LSC-30033/30007: Research project (Dissertation)
• LSC-20056: Research and Analytical Skills
• LSC-20052: Nutrition and Energy Balance
• LSC-10031: Cell & Molecular Biology
• LSC-10039:Human Physiology and Pathology
• LSC-10040: Introduction to Human Physiology
• LSC-00005: A Guide to Sex and Survival (Science Foundation):Module Manager
• LSC-00006: A Guide to Sex and Survival (Health Foundation): Module Manager
• LSC-10042: Sex and Survival (Elective): Module Manager
• Supevisor to Placement student (LSC-30019) at Institut Pasteur, Paris (2011-2012)

Postgraduate Taught Course:

• Masters in Parasitology and Vector Biology