Biography

Marcello Riggio graduated from the University of Leicester with a BSc (Hons) degree in Chemistry-with-Biochemistry in July 1983. In May 1984 he took up a position as a Research Technician at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, working on oncogene expression and regulation. In April 1986 he undertook a position as a Research Assistant in the Department of Veterinary Pathology at Glasgow Vet School, working on the development of recombinant equine herpesvirus vaccines, and studied for his PhD at the same time.

He obtained his PhD in 1991 and carried out his first postdoctoral position in the same department on equine herpesvirus vaccine development. In February 1994 he moved to Glasgow Dental School to take up a position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, where his immediate task was to establish a molecular microbiology laboratory and undertake novel research into oral diseases. In April 1995 he was appointed to a Lectureship in Molecular Biology and in August 2002 was promoted to Senior Lecturer. He became Head of the Infection and Immunity Section in January 2005 and Postgraduate Convener for the Dental School in December 2007.

He has been a member of the Oral Microbiology and Immunology Group (of the British Society for Dental Research) Management Committee since April 2005 and is Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the British Society for Dental Research conference, which was held in Glasgow in September 2009.

Research interests

Dr Riggio has a longstanding interest in the development of improved molecular diagnostic tests for identifying microorganisms in clinical specimens. In particular, his interests lie in the identification of uncultivable and novel bacteria using 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology. This has been applied to the detection of bacteria in both oral and non-oral diseases.

He continues to investigate the role of oral bacteria in systemic infections. Currently, the focus of his research lies in determining the bacteria associated with heart disease, prosthetic joint infections and arthritis. Collaboration with colleagues at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow was recently established to investigate the bacteria associated with canine, feline and ovine oral diseases and canine arthritis.