I joined the Department in 1996, after obtaining a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh, a PhD from the Rockefeller University in New York, and postdoctoral training at the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Following 10 years as a Programme Director, from August 2009 until September 2016 I was Taught Programme Director for the Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, which meant I had oversight of teaching on all the MScs, Short Courses and modules run by the Faculty. In February 2014 I became Associate Dean of Education with responsibility for Quality, Academic Standards and Collaborative Provision across the School, and I am a member of several School-level education committees..
Affiliations
Department of Infection Biology
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
Teaching
I teach molecular biology methods and lecture on gut protozoa as part of various modules.
Research
My main interests are in the genetic diversity and evolution of gut protozoan parasites, especially Entamoeba histolytica, the agent responsible for amoebic dysentery and amoebic liver abscesses, other species of Entamoeba, and Blastocystis, an organism of uncertain pathogenicity. I was involved in the E. histolytica genome project and I run the Entamoeba Homepage. The work on Blastocystis has focussed on its mitochondrial genome in an attempt to understand the function of the organelle in this anaerobic organism. Genome sequencing of Blastocystis and its relative Proteromonas - both mitochondrial and nuclear - is being undertaken at present. Genetic diversity within and between species is being explored in both Entamoeba and Blastocystis as well as other gut protozoa.
Research Area
Parasites
Protozoa
Genomics
Molecular biology
Molecular epidemiology
Parasitology
Disease and Health Conditions
Diarrhoeal diseases
Region
World
Selected Publications
Differentiation of Blastocystis and parasitic archamoebids encountered in untreated wastewater samples by amplicon-based next-generation sequencing.
2019
Parasite Epidemiology and Control
Genetic Diversity and Gene Family Expansions in Members of the Genus Entamoeba.
2019
Genome Biology and Evolution
Blastocystis Mitochondrial Genomes Appear to Show Multiple Independent Gains and Losses of Start and Stop Codons.
2016
Genome biology and evolution
Further insight into the genetic diversity of Entamoeba coli and Entamoeba hartmanni.
2022
Journal of eukaryotic microbiology