Lab Members Background
Donal Wall
(Liyana Azmi, Síle Johnson, Anne McIntosh, Dónal Wall, Heather Hulme, Lynsey Meikle)
I carried out my PhD in Professor Wim Meijer’s laboratory at University College Dublin, Ireland studying the intracellular survival mechanisms of the opportunistic pathogen Rhodococcus equi.
Following this I moved to Boston where I carried out my first postdoctoral fellowship in Professor Beth McCormick’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. While there I looked at the mucosal immunology of Salmonella Typhimurium infection, in particular with regard to intestinal inflammation involving migrating neutrophils.
A second postdoctoral position in Professor Peter Ghazal’s Division of Pathway Medicine at the University of Edinburgh involved studying the host pathways involved in the immune response to herpes virus infections, in particular how cytomegalovirus reactivates from latency in response to stimuli from the host.
I then moved to the University of Glasgow to take up my present position as a Principal Investigator and Lecturer. I have combined my diverse research experience to focus on the host response to microbial infection with a particular interest in how bacteria interact with Programmed Cell Death (PCD) pathways.
Anne McIntosh
I have contributed significantly to the research of the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation as evidenced as author, co-author and acknowledgements on over 25 published papers. I have presented my work as abstracts and posters while attending conference and I make regular contributions to research group meetings.
Background
- Trainee / Junior Research Technician 1975: University of Glasgow Veterinary School, Department of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Medicine Research Laboratories. Protein, Blood & Urine Analysis of large and small animals.
- Research Technician 1984 with Professor Malcolm Kennedy at University of Glasgow Veterinary School, Department of Zoology /Parasitology. Biochemistry and Immunology of Helminths. Research and Technical Support, Co-Author on 5 papers.
- Senior Technician Trypanosome Research 1986 with Professors Mike Turner and Paul Hagen at University of Glasgow, Department of Molecular Parasitology. Research and Technical Support. Co-Author on 3 papers
- Senior Technician in Centre of Cell Engineering 1990 with Dr Mathis Riehle, at University of Glasgow. Dept of Cell Engineering, Research and Technical Support. Co-Author on 5 papers
- Senior Technician in Plasmodium Research 1995, University of Glasgow Research and Technical Support, Technical Manager of Cat III Facility
- Senior Technician in Salmonella Research 2010 to present, University of Glasgow. Research and Technical Support.
Most Recent Research
Research in the Centre of Cell Engineering with Dr Mathis Riehle. Interaction of animal and human cells with random or ordered nanotopographic surfaces, and assessment of cell responses to micro/nanofabricated topographic with chemically or mechanically patterned surfaces. Attendance and poster presentation while at TCES conference 2004, 2005 &2009.
Research with Dr D Wall learning new research technologies focused on the development of Salmonella as a clinically useful anti-cancer agent.
I have acknowledged technical assistance for various research grants including: the welcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the Scottish Home and Health Department and the World Health Organization.
Heather Hulme (BBSRC CASE PhD student)
I completed my BSc Honours in Parasitology at the University of Glasgow in 2013 and began a BBSRC CASE PhD studentship in October 2013 supervised by Dr Donal Wall and Dr Richard Burchmore at the University of Glasgow and Dr. Richard Goodwin at AstraZeneca.
Mass spectrometry imaging of compounds unique to the red and white pulp of the spleen.
Mass spectrometry imaging spectrum highlighting the presence of a range of compounds of distinct mass to charge ratio (m/z) in a single region of tissue
Dr. Lynsey Meikle (BBSRC Postdoctoral Fellow)
My PhD research was carried out in Dr David Kwiatkowski’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Massachusetts under the supervision of Prof. Sue Povey at University College London. The primary focus of this research was to develop and characterize mouse models of the genetic disorder Tuberous Sclerosis (TSC) to study both heart and brain defects that are associated with the disease.
Upon returning to the UK I undertook a short postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Kind, funded by the Medical Research Council before being awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship in 2009. This work adopted a multidisciplinary approach using physiology, biochemistry and histology to study the defects in learning and memory that contribute to the development of autism and mental retardation in TSC individuals.
I am presently working as a postdoctoral research associate under Dr Donal Wall at the University of Glasgow. This post is funded by the BBSRC and aims to elucidate how bacterial pathogens manipulate the host programmed cell death response to disseminate or survive within the host. In the future I hope to be able to combine my neuroscience background and the knowledge I acquire in this post to study CNS pathogens and the impact of the gut microbiome in the development of neurological disorders.
Hannah Wessel (Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD Student)
I completed my BSc in Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University and am currently doing my PhD as part of the Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD programme in ‘Molecular Functions in Disease’. My project is in collaboration with Dr Simon Milling, investigating the role of adherent invasive E. coli as an opportunistic pathogen in Crohn’s disease and its ability to maintain chronic inflammation and systemic immune activation in the host.
Síle Johnson (Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD Student)
I completed my BSc in Biomedical Science in the National University of Ireland, Galway. I am currently carrying out my PhD on the Wellcome Trust ‘Molecular Functions in Disease’ PhD programme. As part of this programme, I completed a Masters in Research by undertaking placements in three different laboratory groups in different fields of biomedical research. I began my PhD in October 2014 under the supervision of Dr Dónal Wall and Dr Stephen Tait (Beatson Institute for Cancer Research). The project involves developing a novel bacterial cancer therapy by exacerbating the innate tumouricidal capabilities of Salmonella Typhimurium. This work is in collaboration with Dr Karen Blyth at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow.
Dr Michael Ormsby (BBSRC Postdoctoral Research Assistant)
I completed my BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in 2011 before commencing a BBSRC industrial CASE PhD studentship at the University of Glasgow. My PhD research was carried out in Dr Robert Davies' laboratory. The primary focus of this research was to use comparative phenotypic, proteomic and genomic approaches to characterise the fish pathogen, Yersinia ruckeri, in support of improved vaccine development.
Following this, I moved to the laboratory of Dr Donal Wall, also at the University of Glasgow, where I presently work as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant. This post is funded by the BBSRC and aims to elucidate the effect of the short chain fatty acid (SCFA) propionic acid on adherent and invasive E. coli (AIEC). Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, we aim to uncover any selective advantages that this common food additive may provide AIEC.
In the future I hope to further investigate host-pathogen interactions utilising the multitude of techniques I have acquired to date.