Bioscience for health

University of Surrey scientists seek a better understanding of human and animal health through work in areas such as immunology, biochemistry, chemistry cardiovascular biology, regenerative medicine, infectious disease and cancer biology.

Collaborations exist across disciplines, research groups and institutions, often led by the School of Biosciences or the School of Veterinary Medicine within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

Research projects

Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Enteric Bacteria in Sub-Saharan Africa | Bacteriology

Dr Chinyere Okoro is investigating the prevalence and transmission dynamics of clinically-important drug resistant enteric bacteria, including Klebsiella, E. coli and other enteric bacteria in community settings using a One Health approach.

Development of novel biodegradable polymers for drug release | Applied Polymer Chemistry

A project led by Dr Peter Roth has developed a novel method to prepare well-defined vinyl co-polymers and nanoparticles containing labile thioesters in the backbone. These can be broken under physiological conditions which we work to exploit the release of encapsulated drugs.

Probe Inhibitors of DNA Base Excision Repair Glycosylases | Organic/Medicinal Chemistry

Beginning with Alkyladenine Glycosylase (AAG), the project, led by Dr Daniel Whelligan, intends to design and synthesise small molecule inhibitors of DNA base excision repair glycosylases - enzymes that catalyse the removal of damaged DNA bases. A toolkit of soluble, membrane-permeable, selective inhibitors will be invaluable for study of repair pathways and their involvement in human diseases such as organ failure, stroke and cancer.

Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 not to scale Credit NIAID

Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and other challenges

Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters and her team are studying how to assess immunity after COVID-19, or the COVID-19 vaccine, using molecular methods of high throughput immunoglobulin repertoire sequencing and electrophysical methods of assessing the cellular immune response. Proper assessment of immunity is important for vaccine development and deployment.

Characterizing the structure, function and drugability of tuberculosis proteins I Microbial Metabolism

Dr Beste at Surrey with collegues at the University of California Irvine will develop a structure-function pipeline for identifying metabolic therapeutic targets to treat tuberculosis

Delineating the signalling cascades that regulate the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) to protect the stressed heart | Molecular and Cellular Sciences

The group, led by Dr Ioannis Smyrnias, published the first study that describes the ATF5-mediated activation and protective role of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) in the overloaded mammalian heart. However, little is known about the precise mechanisms involved. This project is designed to identify the specific signalling events that are activated downstream of ATF5 and mediate the cardioprotective effects of the UPRmt.

Development and application of neuromodulatory techniques to understand brain function and improve cognitive performance | Psychological Neuroscience

Dr Ines Violante is leading research to develop and employ protocols to improve the efficacy of brain stimulation. Bayesian optimisation protocols are developed to target electrical stimulation to individual brain networks to improve memory in young and older individuals. The study looks at how different types of non-invasive brain stimulation modulate brain networks and shape behavioural function. @inesviolante

Biologically optimised radiotherapy for cancer treatment | Medical Physics

Professor Giuseppe Schettino leads research into physical, chemical and biological factors regulating the response of cells and tissues to ionizing radiation with the aim to improve clinical practice by tailoring radiation dose deliveries to patient radiosensitivities. More recently, the group is investigating the potential of using radiation for inhibiting virus for new faster and safer vaccine formulations.

Small molecule blood biomarkers for coronary calcification | Clinical Physiology

Dr Kamalan Jeevaratnam's lab is interested in identifying biomarkers of coronary artery disease and markers of coronary artery calcification. The CorCal study is one such study where mRNA biomarkers are being investigated as correlates for coronary artery calcification in human patients.

Zoonotic transmission of intestinal parasites: implications for control and elimination | Veterinary Medicine

With researchers in the Philippines, Dr Martha Betson is investigating the epidemiology of gut worms in humans and animals and seeking to quantify the contribution of animals to human infection. Project findings will enable development of novel control strategies, leading to increased effectiveness and sustainability of gut worm control.

Mycolactone-based probe molecules to investigate the mechanism and treatment of Buruli ulcer | Organic/Medicinal Chemistry

The neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans which secretes the toxin mycolactone. Through the synthesis of tagged analogues of mycolactone a team, led by Dr Daniel Whelligan, will investigate this mechanism and intend to discover improved treatments more applicable to rural communities.

Person wrapping tape measure around their stomach

Genetic factors influencing adult obesity take effect in early childhood | Bioinformatics

Dr Alexessander Da Silva Couto Alves analysed measures such as BMI and growth rates from 2 weeks to 13 years of age of more than 22,000 children and compared these to variations in their genetic make-up. This enabled the researchers to identify common genetic variants associated with the peaks and troughs in BMI and their timings in childhood.

The role of central carbon metabolism in tuberculosis bacillus in the human host and the translation of this knowledge into anti-tuberculosis compounds | Microbial Metabolism

The team at Surrey, Kings College London, University of Birmingham and the Indian Institute of Science are exploring how central metabolism protects the TB bacillus from reductive and oxidative stresses provided by the human host. This project, led by Dr Dany Beste, will use cutting edge techniques of 13C based metabolomics approaches to identify novel drug targets and medicinal chemistry to modify and improve the antiTBiotic properties of our compounds.

Researching the impact of microbial communities on human health and the possibility to develop novel therapeutic applications | Microbiology

A project started at Surrey with Dr Jose Jimenez Zarco has investigated the possibility of invading populations of the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa responsible for high morbidity in cystic fibrosis patients. This strategy could be used to deploy Trojan horses in the community, eventually replacing a bacterial population resistant to an antibiotic with another that is sensitive to it

An aza-nucleoside, fragment-like inhibitor of the DNA repair enzyme alkyladenine glycosylase (AAG) | Computational Chemistry | DNA Damage and Ageing

Researchers, including Dr Brendan Howlin and Dr Lisiane Meira, have looked at the rationale behind the choice of arylmethylpyrrolidines as appropriate aza-nucleoside mimics for an inhibitor followed by their synthesis and the first use of a microplate-based assay for quantification of their inhibition of AAG.

How do our antibodies change their function? | Immunology

Professor Dunn-Walters and colleagues at KCL and UCL have teamed up to investigate what factors control antibody class switching – the process by which an antibody changes from IgM to IgG for example. This is important in protecting us against disease and can be altered in some infectious diseases such as Ebola.

Immunity in chickens | Immunology

Professor Dunn-Walters and colleagues at Pirbright are investigating chicken antibodies and how they change with vaccination. Chickens are a vital food source and a possible source of zoonotic disease so understanding more about how they fight infections is critical to inform agricultural practice.

Sleepiness is a signal to go to bed: data and model simulations | Mathematics | Sleep and Physiology

Assessing the validity of a subjective measure of sleepiness as an indicator of sleep drive by quantifying associations between intra-individual variation in evening sleepiness and bedtime, sleep duration, and next morning and subsequent evening sleepiness, in young adults; the research was developed by Professor of Mathematics, Anne Skeldon, and colleagues from the School of Biosciences and Medicine, including Professor Derk-Jan Dijk.

Characterising the transcriptional response that mediates the protective effects of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) in the stressed heart | Molecular and Cellular Sciences

Dr Smyrnias’ research group recently described the protective effects of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) in the stressed heart. This project is designed to determine the functional links between the UPRmt and the Integrated Stress Response (ISR) aiming to identify novel targets against cardiovascular diseases, as well as other conditions that affect human health.

Mapping the equine cardiac channelome in health and disease | Clinical Physiology

Dr Jeevaratnam is a companion animal clinician with a special interest in clinical cardiology. Some of the research work he undertakes includes, but not limited to, studies on therapeutic strategies, molecular diagnostics, genetics and genomics, epidemiology, anatomical studies, and comparative cardiology.