Abutalib Hussain
Academic and research departments
Section of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Nutrition, Microbiology.About
University roles and responsibilities
- I am a laboratory technician working in the Cardiovascular and Nutrition labs as well as in the Human research unit. I support and liaise with students, professional services and academics in a multidisciplinary environment.
- I am involved in multiple microbiology research projects under the guidance of Dr Jorge Gutierrez and Professor Claudio Avignone-Rossa
I studied at the University of Surrey from 2020 to 2024, where I obtained my BSc (Hons) degree in Microbiology. My final-year research project, under the guidance of Dr Hingley-Wilson and Dr Alessandra Pina, focused on evaluating the efficacy of encapsulating the antibiotic Bedaquiline within silica nanoparticles, exploring its potential as a therapeutic strategy for diseases associated with Mycobacterium abscessus.
In 2025, I joined Dr Jorge Gutierrez's research team, where I investigated the link between innate immune sensing pathways in response to Lactobacillus plantarum. My work focused on understanding how cGAS-STING, NOD2, and inflammasome pathways coordinate to regulate IL-1β and type I interferon (IFN-I) responses in macrophages. Using THP-1 reporter cell lines with targeted gene knockouts, I assessed pathway-specific immune activation through luciferase and cytokine assays, contributing to research on host -microbe interactions and immunomodulatory mechanisms.