Infection Diseases Research Group
Infectious disease remains the world’s biggest killer of mankind and is responsible for huge economic losses in agriculture worldwide. New strains and pathogens are constantly emerging that challenge current control strategies. Yet disease represents one pole of the spectrum of relationships that exist between hosts and parasites which is dominated by commensalism and even symbiosis. Within the Surrey Infectious Diseases Group we recognize the complexity of this relationship and we aim to dissect its architecture within a framework of systems biology in order to design new therapies and control strategies that shift the balance towards health.
Research within the Infectious Diseases Group is centred on several important pathogens. In human health, our bacterial research focusses on mycobacterial and meningococcal disease, and zoonotic diseases particularly those caused by enteric pathogens such as campylobacter, vibrios, salmonella and E. coli. Virologists within the group focus on the RNA enteric viruses and particularly on elucidating how viral IRES elements control host cell translation. However, as part of the ‘One Health’ theme of FHMS research we also tackle a range of viral and bacterial veterinary pathogens. Our research recognises the importance of studying the host and the pathogen as an integrated dynamic system; with the ultimate goal being the development of new drugs and vaccines to combat infectious disease.
Much of the research within the Infectious Diseases Group is interdisciplinary and systems-based and we collaborate widely across the Faculty and University but particularly with theoreticians and bioinformaticists within the Systems Biology Group
The Group currently has 11 members:
