Our molecular and physiological studies target human and animal pathogens ranging from the bacteria that cause tuberculosis or meningitis, to viruses (picornaviruses, caliciviruses and influenza virus) that cause severe respiratory or gastrointestinal disease.

A major focus is in applying a Systems Biology approach to understanding the disease process and bacterial networks controlling antibiotic production. This involves both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ biology, investigating the behaviour of the microorganisms and the host responses to infection and integrating this data into computer models. We have pioneered the construction of in silico microorganisms and built the world’s first computer model of the tuberculosis bacillus which is already being used to identify new drug targets. Similar systems-based approaches are also being applied to the optimisation of antibiotic production in Streptomyces and for vaccine development.

Other main areas of research focus on the molecular mechanisms of host/pathogen interactions (translational control, mechanisms of cell death, immune response to infection) and the biotechnological exploitation of our findings.

Staff in the department contribute to research in the following cross-Faculty themes:

Infectious Diseases
Systems Biology
Cardiovascular
Sleep and Chronobiology
Cancer
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Diabetes, obesity and metabolism
Materials and Nanoscience