Academic staff in the School of Biosciences 

Professor Rob Jackson is an expert in bacteria-plant interactions, making major contributions to the understanding of how pathogens cause disease and how pathogens evolve to evade host immunity. He also has interests in applied biology questions relating to biocontrol approaches to treat plant diseases.

Professor Besra heads a world-leading multidisciplinary team investigating key aspects of the microbial physiology of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall and the potential role of iNKT/CD1d therapeutics. He has been awarded and successfully managed over 50 research grants valued at over £35 million from The Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council ...

Dr. Bhatt is a Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology in the School of Biosciences. A prestigious Fellowship- a Career Development Award from the Medical Research Council-enabled him to set up his research group at the University of Birmingham in 2006. Dr.Bhatt’s research interests include studying pathogenic mycobacteria and how they cause disease, with a particular focus on Mycobacterium ...

Dr Mary Blanchard studies the locomotor behavior and ecology of primates, with experience of long-term field work in Madagascar and captive conservation in the UK.

I am a Reader in RNA biology. My group's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that connect pre-mRNA processing with translation and Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD). A second interest of the laboratory is understanding the functions of ribosomes and ribosomal proteins within the nucleus.

Lab page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brognalab/646045552079820

Professor Chris Bunce directs a translational research group dedicated to the development of novel therapies for leukaemias and lymphomas. A particular focus is the exploitation of drug redeployment strategies using off- patent drugs to provide affordable therapies that can be exploited by all including the worlds poorer nations.

Research in Steve Busby’s lab is concerned with understanding the molecular mechanisms that control gene expression in bacteria, with particular attention to studying the regulation of transcription initiation in Escherichia coli. Much of the recent work has focussed on the expression of virulence determinants in pathogenic strains.

Dr Florian Busch is a theoretical and experimental plant physiologist interested in all aspects of photosynthesis. His focus is on linking different photosynthetic processes with mathematical models to study the biochemical limitations of carbon fixation and to gain a quantitative understanding of how plant carbon uptake responds to changes in the environment.

Dr. Juliano Sarmento Cabral is one of the world’s experts in mechanistic modelling of eco-evolutionary biodiversity dynamics. He and his team have developed several mechanistic and process-based models for plant and animal populations, communities, and species ranges to demonstrate, for example, how ecological and genetic traits are both under selection under environmental change and how ...

Teresa Carlomagno is an internationally recognized expert in the development and application of integrative structural biology (ISB) to biomolecular complexes. She has dedicated her scientific life to studying how molecular partners communicate with each other; in this mission her research has been pushing the limits of structural biology techniques in solution to address questions of constantly ...

Dr Catoni integrates computational biology with a range of experimental molecular biology approaches to study the epigenetic mechanisms controlling genome plasticity in plants.

The group investigates the relations between epigenetic and evolution, and develops epigenetic-based approaches to improve plant production, to support a more sustainable agriculture.

View Marco Catoni's Lab Website

Dr Chappell is an expert in the field of animal cognition and is involved in interdisciplinary research and teaching. Her research focus is on understanding the ways that animals use their intelligence to adapt to complex, dynamic environments. She is Deputy Head of School in the School of Biosciences.

Professor Yin Chen is a microbiologist and heads a group focusing on the ecophysiology of how microbes adapt to nutrient stress and climate change.

Dr Coates's research interests include development, evolution, plant science and cell biology - in particular understanding how plants made the transition to land and how they survived once they got there. Dr Coates has a very strong interest in supporting inclusion and diversity in research, teaching and academic processes.

John Colbourne’s investigations encompass the fields of evolutionary ecology, high-throughput biology, environmental and functional genomics. From this blend of disciplines emerges a research program that centers on connecting gene expression and genome structure with individual fitness and population-level responses to environmental challenges.

Professor Helen J. Cooper is an expert in the gas-phase ion chemistry of peptides and proteins. She is a world-leader in the field of electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry and is responsible for establishing the University of Birmingham as a centre of excellence in mass spectrometry research. Professor Cooper has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and serves on a number of ...

Dr Eleanor Cull is an experienced parasitologist and has worked on gene regulation and metabolism in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and host cell invasion in Toxoplasma gondii. 

Her main academic interests are in molecular biology and its application in investigating human health and disease.

One of her other interests is innovative teaching techniques. With a unique ...

Debbie is Deputy Director of Education for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and a teaching-focused lecturer and Senior Tutor in the School of Biosciences. Within these roles she has interests in influencing and supporting strategies which enhance academic standards and student experience.

Debbie has research expertise in the use of biochemical techniques to characterise regulatory ...

Professor Tim Dafforn has established himself as an expert in biophysical spectroscopy with a keen interest in synthetic biology. Professor Dafforn has developed a number of projects from inception through to commercial realization.

 

Dr Fan’s research interest centres on understanding how cell death, cell proliferation and cell differentiation are coordinated to maintain tissue homeostasis.  This has important implications for cancer development and tissue regeneration.  

Christine Foyer is an expert in plant metabolism and its regulation under optimal and stress conditions. She is President Elect of the Association of Applied Biologists, the General Secretary of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Biologists, an elected Board Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists and a Member of the French Academy of Agriculture. She will soon take up the ...

Noni Franklin-Tong’s research focuses on the cellular mechanisms involved in the model cell-cell recognition system of self-incompatibility (SI) in Papaver rhoeas(the Field Poppy). She is recognized at an international level for her work in the field of plant cell biology. Specifically she has made major contributions to the field of self-incompatibility, a field that has high importance ...

Dr Klaus Fütterer is a structural biologist whose research focuses on cell wall synthesis in the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Daniel’s group studies how plants use targeted protein degradation as a mechanism for sensing and responding to their environment, with a focus on how this regulates their growth, development, epigenome, and tolerance to stresses such as flooding.

Professor Grainger is an expert in the field of bacterial chromosome biology. He relocated his laboratory to the University of Birmingham in March 2011 having previously established a successful research group at the University of Warwick. He is a life-long supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and attributes his capacity to cope with the frequent disappointments that befall a research ...

Professor Jonathan Green is the Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education   as well as being a member of the academic staff in the School of Biosciences. As DPVC (Education) he chairs University Quality Assurance Committee (UQAC), Collaborative Provision Committee (CPC), the Degree Apprenticeships Steering Group, and  Progress & Awards Board (PAB). He also oversees the ...

Dr Hayward’s research group seeks to understand how organisms cope with variable and stressful environments. Temperate, polar and tropical terrestrial invertebrates (insects, mites and nematodes) are the primary focus of this endeavour. His lab uses state-of-the-art tools, and a systems biology approach, to investigate how these organisms detect, repair and stabilize the cellular and ...

Our lab aims to understand structural plasticity of the nervous system: in development, regeneration and repair. That is, what is the link between structure and function in the brain? How does the brain change as we grow, learn and age? What happens in nervous system injury and disease, and how can we promote regeneration and repair?

Find out more from our website

Dr Nik Hodges is interested in the mechanisms of genetic toxicology, cellular oxidative stress and repair of oxidative DNA damage and his lab was the first to identify that the variant form of the repair protein OGG1 is repair deficient under conditions of oxidative stress which could have important consequences for individual susceptibility to cancer.

Professor Hotchin is a molecular cell biologist with an interest in how cells interact with their immediate environment and how those interactions regulate functions such as cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. He has published a number of high impact papers on the role of small GTP-binding proteins in control of cell function and, more recently, on the role of membrane tyrosine ...

Dr Graeme Kettles is a molecular plant pathologist with diverse interests across the range of biotic threats that plants encounter. His most recent projects involved study of the virulence strategies used by fungal pathogens of wheat. He is currently establishing a program of tree pathology at Birmingham, in collaboration with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR).

Tim Knowles is a Reader in Structural Biology whose interest lies in utilising and developing structural and biophysical techniques to elucidate protein function. His research focus spans both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and includes diverse areas of study including resolving the mechanisms of outer membrane biogenesis in Gram-negative bacteria, the development of novel strategies for studying ...

Dr Jan-Ulrich Kreft is a microbiologist turned mathematical modeller.

 

Lab website address: www.biosciences-labs.bham.ac.uk/kreftlab/index.html

For an up-to-date publication list see my Google Scholar page

Dr Leney is a structural biology-based mass spectrometrist. Her interests focus on protein post-translational modifications and the role that these play in communication or miscommunication in the case of disease. She is also exploring new avenues whereby protein modifications can be utilised for biotechnological applications.

More information: https://www.leney-mass-spectrometry.com/

As Head of the Education for the School of Biosciences I am responsible for the overall shape and management of our undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes.

My main academic interests are in Microbiology and Molecular Biotechnology. I teach microbiology, focusing on bacteria and their role in human health and disease.

One of my other interests is in innovative teaching methods designed ...

Nick works as Professor of Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics in the Institute for Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham. His research explores the use of cutting-edge genomics and metagenomics approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of infectious disease. Nick has so far used high-throughput sequencing to investigate outbreaks of important ...

I am a Professor of Structural Biology here at Birmingham, and my research interests involve utilising structural biology (and complementary techniques) to investigate protein function – many of these projects involve the unusual predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio; see “Research” tab and be enthused!

Here is a link to a presentation given at an EMBO meeting that provides some ...

Originally from Spain, Dr Estrella Luna-Diez is a plant pathologist working in the UK since early 2009. Her work is aimed towards plant protection and biosecurity. Dr Luna-Diez studies the sophisticated immune system of plants in order to exploit their resistance capacity to a maximum.

Hansong is a leading expert in mitochondrial genetics. Her group developed tools and systems in Drosophila to study mitochondrial DNA transmission and maintenance.

https://www.themalab.co.uk/

Programme Director for Natural Sciences.

Dr Roisin Madigan teaches on a variety of courses in Biosciences and the Medical and Dental School, and has particular interest in problem-based learning.  

Nigel Maxted is Professor of Plant Genetic Conservation, with specific expertise in in situ and ex situ conservation related to crops, their wild relative and other socio-economically important plants.

Nigel has led National, European and International crop, their wild relative and other socio-economically important plant conservation projects with funding from international (FAO, GEF, Bioversity ...

I am Professor of Infectious Disease at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. My research centres on human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how specific pathogens subvert the human immune response.  Currently, I am seconded to the UK Government for three days per week as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Food Standards Agency.

Professor McDonald and his research team apply a combination of cultivation-based and molecular approaches to characterise and engineer both host-associated and environmental microbiomes, to understand their role in host health status, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. Current research focusses on microbiome engineering approaches to address key global challenges such as waste ...

Megan uses next-generation sequencing tools identify and characterise virulence genes from fungal pathogens of wheat and barley. To do this Megan has worked extensively with long-read de novo genome assembly, genome annotation and transposon annotation. Megan’s background is in population genetics of plant pathogens, studying their origins and global movement during her graduate studies. ...

Dr Steve Minchin has an interest in transcriptional control at both the molecular and genomic level. He has a strong interest in research-led teaching, innovation and quality management. In 2009 he was awarded the Head of Schools’ Award for Excellence in Teaching and Supporting Student Learning.

Professor Julia Myatt is the Academic Director for Sustainability Education at the University of Birmingham. As part of the Senior Education Team, Julia coordinates and promotes the central place of subject-specific and interdisciplinary education in sustainability and climate awareness across the University’s teaching and learning strategy. Julia is also part of the Birmingham Institute ...

Luisa's mission is to improve environmental health by pushing the boundaries of research and innovation. She applies high throughput sequencing technologies and AI to understand the impact of environmental change on freshwater ecosystems. Luisa works with ghost DNA and resurrected crustaceans to identify the causes of biodiversity loss and the mechanisms of evolution that allow species to persist.

I am a Biology lecturer with interest in plants, evolution and the natural environment. In my research career I started our looking at individual root cells and how they expand (under high pressure if you want to know!), phloem and xylem transport and the interaction aphids.  Now as a director of Education for the BIFoR FACE experiment I look at whole oak trees and their ecosystems under ...

Dr Jim Reynolds has worked on the reproductive biology and the nutritional ecology of birds from many different and diverse orders including passerines, geese, grouse, kingfishers and terns. He has worked in North America and in mainland Europe in investigating how human activity influences food availability and the resulting changes in avian reproductive investment and life histories. He employs ...

Our lab uses the fruit fly Drosophila to unravel the mechanisms underlying behavioural choices. By studying how the brain makes decisions at a genetic, cellular and circuit level, in an accessible experimental system, we aim to reveal fundamental principles that might be present across species.

Find out more from our website

Alice Roberts is an anatomist, author and broadcaster. Her research interests focus on evolutionary anatomy, osteoarchaeology and palaeopathology. She has considerable experience in science communication: she has presented several landmark series on the BBC and written seven popular science books.

Dr Sharma-Oates’s research interest include the influence of ethnicity on disease onset and disease severity with a focus on autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

My prime research interest is how the information encoded in chromosomes instructs building of the most complex organ, the brain, and allows an organism to perform elaborate tasks.

Dr Taylor-Smith is a teaching focused lecturer in the school of Biosciences. She teaches on Eukaryotic microbiology, host-pathogen interactions and immunology. Her previous research has been on the host-pathogen interaction between human macrophages and the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

Professor Thomas joined the University of Birmingham in 1980 as a Lecturer in the Department of Genetics and has been Professor of Molecular Genetics since 1991. He is an internationally recognised authority on bacterial plasmid and mobile DNA and within the university has championed Biotechnology. He was also a founder of the successful Medici Programme that encourages development of ...

Susannah Thorpe is Professor of Zoology for the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research employs a multidisciplinary approach in primate behavioural ecology to reveal how primates interact with complex natural habitats and the environmental constraints that steer their evolution. Her career has been predominantly based on revealing core aspects of human ...

Dr Mike Tomlinson is a Reader in Membrane Protein Biology in the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham.  He is a member of the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE), and associate member of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences.  He is Communications Lead for the School of Biosciences.  Mike’s research focuses on tetraspanin membrane proteins ...

Dr Hung-Ji Tsai is interested in how aneuploidy, an unbalanced genomic state with gain or loss of chromosomes, enables rapid adaptation to diverse environment. His research focus is to understand the distinct cellular processes driven by aneuploidy (and other large-scale genome instability) during the acquisition of antifungal drug resistance.

Professor Mark Viant’s expertise lies in the field of metabolomics. His research spans from method development in analytical chemistry and bioinformatics through to the application of metabolomics to environmental toxicology. Professor Viant is a member of the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ).

Ralf Weber is the Director of Bioinformatics for the Phenome Centre Birmingham. His research team’s interests include the development and application of data processing, biostatistics and data mining tools to facilitate biochemical annotation and interpretation of clinical and toxicological metabolomics data. Dr Weber is a member of the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice ...

Dr Scott White is an experienced structural biologist speciallising in the application of x-ray crystallography to the structure and function of enzymes and their substrate, inhibitor or drug-bound complexes. He is also an Academic personal tutor and the Mitigations Officer for the School of Biosciences. He is the coordinator of the UK Midland's Block Allocation Group (BAG) for the European ...

Dr Pu Xia is an ecotoxicologist interested in understanding and predicting the molecular mechanisms underlying the toxicity of chemicals. His research focuses on the development and application of cutting-edge system toxicology approaches, including multi-omics, artificial intelligence, and adverse outcome pathway networks, to facilitate high-throughput screening and accurate prediction of ...

Dr Zhou is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Bioinformatics at the School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham. His research focuses on using AI/ML techniques, in particular graph machine learning, explainable artificial intelligence and network biology, to understand and predict the complex biological systems and ecosystems, with a special focus on addressing emerging challenges in ...