Biology Week 2022

Professor Jim Boyne

Professor Jim Boyne is the Head of Subject for Biomedical Sciences.

His research group are interested in the contents of extracellular vesicles released from cancer cells and how these may be exploited for diagnostics. 

Cameron Stockwell

Cameron is a part-time lecturer and PhD student in Biomedical Science.

Dr Jess Haigh

Dr Jess Haigh is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Leeds Beckett University.

Jess’ research explores how insulin resistance develops following consumption of high-fat diet using cell culture models. The aim is to identify novel therapeutics targets to counteract obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as finding early biomarkers of insulin resistance.

Leah Fox

Leah is a QC Analyst for Pharmaceutical Company and a recent graduate from MSc Medical Microbiology at Leeds Beckett University.

Professor Gary Jones

Professor Gary Jones is Head of Research in the School of Health. 

Currently Gary’s research is focused on two broad areas:

• deciphering the role of the ubiquitous stress response protein Hsp70 in diverse cellular functions,  
• developing new therapeutic strategies to combat hard to treat fungal diseases, such as invasive aspergillosis.

His research involves multidisciplinary approaches involving molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, biophysics, computational biology, genomics, proteomics and mass spectrometry. To utilize such diverse technologies he has established an extensive collaboration network with leading researchers based in Ireland, France, Spain, China and the USA.

Dr Wayne Roberts

Dr Wayne Roberts joined Leeds Beckett University in 2018 as the Course Director for Biomedical Science degree programmes. His research expertise is in the role platelets and platelet microparticles play in disease states.

Dr Rochelle Hockney

Dr Rochelle Hockney is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at Leeds Beckett University.

Rochelle is currently exploring the impact of multiple commercial and naturally sourced honey based products on urinary tract microorganisms. She is also investigating he potential route for bacterial transfer to the placenta and neonate during delivery and whether mode of delivery impacts bacterial transfer from the mother to infant, plus investigating the beneficial use of different tissue preparation methods for use in microbiota and sequencing research.

Rochelle hopes to expand her research on novel contraceptive options, the use and options for contraceptive methods in specialised institutions, plus further investigate the beneficial use of naturally sourced honey based products for urinary tract infections.

Dr Donna Johnson

Donna is the Course Director for the MSc courses in Biomedical Sciences.

Her background has predominantly been in molecular biology, using PCR-based techniques to investigate the role of epigenetic control in the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Donna's current research interests are focused on the use of miRNA as biomarkers of infectious disease.

Dr John George

Dr John George is Senior lecturer in Microbiology with an interest in drug discovery.

He is particularly interested in using computational methods to understand how biochemical pathways are organised and regulated.

John's current research involves building a computational model of the synthesis of the bacterial skin (lipopolysaccharides, phospholipids and peptidoglycan). So far he has successfully completed an integrated model involving LPS and phospholipids and validated it using experimental evidence.

The computational models can additionally be used as a guide for drug discovery as they can identify the most susceptible enzyme within a pathway. The model has been used successfully to identify 2 new antimicrobial agents which are currently in pre-clinical development.

Dr Andrew Paterson

Dr Andrew Paterson is a Senior Lecturer.

Andrew has worked at Leeds Beckett University for a number of years teaching across physiology and pharmacology modules within the biomedical sciences undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and other professional courses. He has been on the supervisory team of a number of PhD students working within his areas of research interest.

He uses a range of cell culture approaches to investigate the effects of endogenous molecules and xenobiotics on cultured cells in vitro. Areas of current interest include:

• Studying the role of the formyl peptide receptors (FPRs) in the nervous system, where recent work has uncovered some intriguing roles for these receptors. Further exploration of these effects may suggest novel avenues of treatment of conditions ranging from neurodegenerative diseases, neurological cancers to neuropathic pain.
• The investigation of the cytotoxic properties of nanoparticles and their anti-cancer potential. This work involves the development and assessment of targeting ligands including antibodies and aptamers to direct nanoparticles towards cancerous cells, and could potentially be used to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.
• The assessment of the cytotoxicity of herbal preparations and phytochemicals which show promise as novel antimicrobials, in collaboration with Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada. This work can be used to indicate the potential of such agents in the treatment of infections and as such can be used to help direct future research effort in combating infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.