Dr Scott P Davies MSci, MRes, PhD

Scott Davies

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Contact details

Email
s.p.davies.1@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@ScottPLand
View my research portal
Address
Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research
Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy
5th Floor IBR Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
B15 2TT

Scott Davies is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Professor Ye Oo, based in the Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research as part of the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy.

Dr Davies’ is research widely spans the fields immunology and hepatology, where he investigates the roles of immune cells in chronic liver disease in a human setting. Specifically, he aims to understand the mechanisms and consequences of cell-in-cell structures in chronic liver diseases. His research follows a “zoom in, zoom strategy”, aiming to understanding the role of specific cellular mechanisms in the context of organ biology and how this may benefit patients.

Scott is a passionate microscopist and cell biologist who strives to push the boundaries of the questions which microscopy can answer. He is keen to make science fun and accessible to the public. He strives to make laboratory work enjoyable for others and strongly believes in supporting the mental health of others in science.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Immunity and Infection, University of Birmingham, 2018
  • MRes in Immunity and Infection, University of Birmingham 2014
  • MSci in Biological Sciences, University of Birmingham, 2012

Biography

Scott completed his MSci in 2012 at the University of Birmingham, gaining research experience through a laboratory project supervised by Dr Michael Tomlinson. He also conducted ecological research through an international placement organised by Operation Wallacea, for which he received funding from the University.

He secured a place on an MRC-funded Doctoral Training programme, which included an initial MSci year which he completed in 2014. He then went on to complete his PhD at Birmingham in 2018 in the lab of Dr Zania Stamataki, where he investigated hepatocyte efferocytosis and compared it to the newly discovered cell-in-cell process of Enclysis, to which he helped define.

He then began his postdoctoral career by receiving an NC3Rs training fellowship in 2018 to develop methods to image ex vivo human liver tissue using multiphoton microscopy. He moved to the lab of Professor Ye Oo in 2020, where he is investigating a new process describing the internalisation of CD8+ T cells into biliary epithelial cells, including its mechanism and role in autoimmune liver diseases. He published the results of this investigation in Nature Communications in January 2024.

Teaching

  • Primary supervisor to final year BMedSci students in 2024
  • Has hosted small group teaching sessions with first year Biomedical Sciences undergraduates part of Cellular Biochemistry and Biology

Research

Research interests

Dr Davies’ major research interest focuses on interactions between epithelial cells and immune cells in the context of autoimmune liver disease. He aims to uncover the functions and consequences of the formation of heterotopic cell-in-cell structures and how they contribute to disease pathogenesis. He is passionate in pushing the capabilities of microscopy and the research questions which they can answer.

Current projects

  • Understanding the internalisation of CD8+ T cells by biliary epithelial cells in primary biliary cholangitis
  • Exploring stability and function of regulatory T cells in human livers to development immunotherapy for autoimmune hepatitis

Other activities

  • Current committee member of the British Society for Immunology (BSI) Midlands affinity group
  • He is a MHFA mental health champion
  • Member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver
  • Nominated as the Gibco Cell Culture Hero for May 2023 and gave a webinar to accompany the title
  • Spoken at “Pint of Science” Birmingham events whilst representing the NC3Rs in 2019 and has formed part of the organising team in the past
  • Invited speaker for “Snippets of Science” session at Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA) in 2019
  • Taken part in several public engagement events includes “Meet The Scientist” at the ThinkTank and the “Big Bang Fair” a the NEC, representing the BSI

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Davies, SP, Ronca, V, Wootton, GE, Krajewska, NM, Bozward, AG, Fiancette, R, Patten, DA, Yankouskaya, K, Reynolds, GM, Pat, S, Osei-Bordom, DC, Richardson, N, Grover, LM, Weston, CJ & Oo, YH 2024, 'Expression of E-cadherin by CD8+ T cells promotes their invasion into biliary epithelial cells', Nature Communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 853. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44910-2

Kennedy, JI, Davies, SP, Hewett, PW, Wilkinson, AL, Oo, YH, Lu, W-Y, El Haj, AJ & Shetty, S 2024, 'Organ-on-a-chip for studying immune cell adhesion to liver sinusoidal endothelial cells: the potential for testing immunotherapies and cell therapy trafficking', Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, vol. 12, 1359451. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2024.1359451

Moakes, RJA, Davies, SP, Stamataki, Z & Grover, LM 2021, 'Formulation of a Composite Nasal Spray Enabling Enhanced Surface Coverage and Prophylaxis of SARS-COV-2', Advanced Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202008304

Melidis, L, Hill, HJ, Coltman, NJ, Davies, SP, Winczura, K, Chauhan, T, Craig, JS, Garai, A, Hooper, CAJ, Egan, RT, McKeating, JA, Hodges, NJ, Stamataki, Z, Grzechnik, P & Hannon, MJ 2021, 'Supramolecular Cylinders Target Bulge Structures in the 5' UTR of the RNA Genome of SARS-CoV-2 and Inhibit Viral Replication**', Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) , vol. 60, no. 33, pp. 18144-18151. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202104179

Wiggins, BG, Pallett, LJ, Li, X, Davies, SP, Amin, OE, Gill, US, Kucykowicz, S, Patel, AM, Aliazis, K, Liu, YS, Reynolds, GM, Davidson, BR, Gander, A, Luong, TV, Hirschfield, GM, Kennedy, PTF, Huang, Y, Maini, MK & Stamataki, Z 2021, 'The human liver microenvironment shapes the homing and function of CD4+ T-cell populations', Gut. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2020-323771

Davies, SP, Mycroft-West, CJ, Pagani, I, Hill, HJ, Chen, Y-H, Karlsson, R, Bagdonaite, I, Guimond, SE, Stamataki, Z, De Lima, MA, Turnbull, JE, Yang, Z, Vicenzi, E, Skidmore, MA, Khanim, FL & Richardson, A 2021, 'The hyperlipidaemic drug fenofibrate significantly reduces infection by SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture models', Frontiers in Pharmacology, vol. 12, 660490. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.660490

Davies, SP, Terry, LV, Wilkinson, AL & Stamataki, Z 2020, 'Cell-in-Cell Structures in the Liver: A Tale of Four E’s', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 11, 650. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00650

Davies, SP, Reynolds, GM, Wilkinson, AL, Li, X, Rose, R, Leekha, M, Liu, YS, Gandhi, R, Buckroyd, E, Grove, J, Barnes, NM, May, RC, Hubscher, SG, Adams, DH, Huang, Y, Qureshi, O & Stamataki, Z 2019, 'Hepatocytes delete regulatory T cells by enclysis, a CD4+ T cell engulfment process', Cell Reports, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 1610-1620.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.09.068

Davies, SP, Reynolds, GM & Stamataki, Z 2018, 'Clearance of Apoptotic Cells by Tissue Epithelia: A Putative Role for Hepatocytes in Liver Efferocytosis', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 9, 44. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00044

Bhogal, R, Weston, C, Velduis, S, Henri GD, L, Reynolds, G, Davies, S, Luu, N-T, Alfaifi, M, Shepherd, E, Boteon, Y, Wallace, L, Oo, YH, Adams, D, Mirza, DF, Mergentel, H, Muirhead, G, Stephenson, B & Afford, S 2018, 'The ROS-Mitophagy Signalling Pathway regulates liver endothelial cell survival during ischaemia-reperfusion injury', Liver Transplantation. https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.25313

Patten, D, Hussein, E, Davies, S, Humpreys, P & Collett, A 2017, 'Commensal-derived OMVs elicit a mild proinflammatory response in intestinal epithelial cells', Microbiology, vol. 163, pp. 702-711.

Triantafyllou, E, Pop, OT, Possamai, LA, Wilhelm, A, Liaskou, E, Singanayagam, A, Bernsmeier, C, Khamri, W, Petts, G, Dargue, R, Davies, SP, Tickle, J, Yuksel, M, Patel, VC, Abeles, RD, Stamataki, Z, Curbishley, SM, Ma, Y, Coen, M, Woollard, KJ, Quaglia, A, Wendon, J, Thursz, MR, Adams, DH, Weston, CJ, Antoniades, CG & Wilson, ID 2017, 'MerTK expressing hepatic macrophages promote the resolution of inflammation in acute liver failure', Gut. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2016-313615

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Wiggins, BG, Aliazis, K, Davies, SP, Hirschfield, G, Lalor, PF, Reynolds, G & Stamataki, Z 2017, In Vitro and Ex Vivo Models to Study T Cell Migration Through the Human Liver Parenchyma. in GE Rainger & HM Mcgettrick (eds), T-Cell Trafficking: Methods and Protocols. vol. 1591, Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer, pp. 195-214. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6931-9_14

Review article

Aghabi, YO, Yasin, A, Kennedy, JI, Davies, SP, Butler, AE & Stamataki, Z 2021, 'Targeting Enclysis in Liver Autoimmunity, Transplantation, Viral Infection and Cancer', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 12, 662134. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.662134

Patel, AM, Liu, YS, Davies, SP, Brown, RM, Kelly, DA, Scheel-toellner, D, Reynolds, GM & Stamataki, Z 2021, 'The Role of B Cells in Adult and Paediatric Liver Injury', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 12, 729143. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.729143

View all publications in research portal