Centre for Biomedical Science Research

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Conducting diverse research to combat disease and improve health

The Centre for Biomedical Science Research facilitates both fundamental science and applied research. We cover a wide range of diseases to further understanding of pathophysiology and search for novel druggable targets. We develop cutting edge technologies and assays to aid understanding of basic science, and our work aims to improve public health and treatment strategies.

Our areas of research

Hurley IP and Eldahshoury M (2023). Direct Sandwich ELISA to Detect the Adulteration of Human Breast Milk by Cow’s Milk. Journal of Dairy Science
Baede VO, Gupta A et al. (2023) Markers of epidemiological success of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in European populations. Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
Bi O, Anene CA, Nsengimana J, Shelton M, Roberts W, Newton-Bishop JK, Boyne J (2021). SFPQ promotes an oncogenic transcriptomic state in melanoma. Oncogene.
Haigh JL* et al. (2021) Deletion of a non-canonical regulatory sequence causes loss of Scn1a expression and epileptic phenotypes in mice. Genome Medicine.
Hughes L, Roberts W and Johnson D (2021) The impact of DNA adenine methyltransferase knockout on the development of triclosan resistance and antibiotic cross-resistance in Escherichia coli. Access Microbiology.
Dobson SJ, Anene A, Boyne JR, Mankouri J, Macdonald A, Whitehouse A (2020). Merkel cell polyomavirus small tumour antigen activates the p38 MAPK pathway to enhance cellular motility. Biochem J.
Haigh JL et al. (2020). A versatile cholera toxin conjugate for neuronal targeting and tracing. Chemical Communications.
Shepherd J, Swift T, Chang CY, Boyne JR, Rimmer S, Martin WHC. Highly branched poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) functionalized with an inducer molecule suppresses quorum sensing in Chromobacterium violaceum. Chem Commun.
Akhbari P, Tobin D, Poterlowicz K, Roberts W, Boyne JR (2018). MCV-miR-M1 targets the host-cell immune response during virus replication resulting in the attenuation of neutrophil chemotaxis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Anene C, Graham AM, Boyne J, Roberts W (2018) Platelet microparticle delivered microRNA-Let-7a promotes the angiogenic switch. BBA Molecular Basis of Disease.
Nwogu N, Boyne J, Dobson SJ, Poterlowicz K, Macdonald A, Blair GE, Mankouri J, Whitehouse A. (2018). Cellular sheddases are induced by Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Small Tumour Antigen to mediate cell dissociation and invasiveness. PLoS Pathogens
Xu L, Jones GW et al. (2018) The β6/β7 region of the Hsp70 substrate-binding domain mediates heat-shock response and prion propagation. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.
Stakaitytė G, Nwogu N, Lippiat JD, Blair GE, Poterlowicz K, Boyne JR, Macdonald A, Mankouri J, Whitehouse A (2018). The cellular chloride channels CLIC1 and CLIC4 contribute to virus-mediated cell motility. J Biol Chem.

Global collaboration and impact

Our principal investigators have well-established successful collaborations with excellent research groups based in Brazil, China, India, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA, in addition to many UK-based collaborations. In recent years members of the CBSR have published their work in leading scientific journals such as Cell, PNAS, Plant Cell, Nature Protocols, JACS, JBC, NAR PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Genetics, Genome Research, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, amongst others.

our experts

Professor Gary Jones

Director of Research / School Of Health
Professor Jim Boyne

Head of Subject / School Of Health
Dr Wayne Roberts

Course Director / School Of Health

Biology Week spotlight

"My research involves investigating the pathways bacteria use to become resistant to antibiotics. The more we know about the development of resistance, the more able we will be to fight it"

#IAmABiologist

Dr Donna Johnson | Course Director in Biomedical Science
"My research looks to understand how insulin resistance develops across cell types following high-fat diet. This is important to better understand obesity and type 2 diabetes so we can find new avenues for treatment."

#IAmABiologist

Dr Jess Haigh | Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science
"My laboratory investigates the role of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in human disease, Recently, we have sought to understand how RNA in extracellular vesicles that are released from cancer cells might be exploited for cancer diagnostics."

#IAmABiologist

Professor Jim Boyne | Professor in Biomedical Science
"My research involves building computational models of bacterial biochemistry. These can be used as a guide for drug discovery. One model has been used successfully to identify two new antimicrobial agents which are currently in pre-clinical development."

#IAmABiologist

Dr John George | Reader in Biomedical Science
"I'm a LGBT scientist who specialises in the early stages of virus infection and how virus manipulates the immune system. We aim to use existing drugs to develop treatments to severe disease like virally-derived swelling of the brain (encephalitis). Previously I have researched parasites and pathogenic disease including cancer, sleeping sickness, and viral neurological disease."

#IAmABiologist

Cameron Stockwell | PhD Student in Biomedical Science
"One aspect of my research looks at the cytotoxic properties of nanoparticles and their anti-cancer potential. I look for ways to target nanoparticles towards cancer cells and test if this kills them. This could potentially be used to improve cancer treatment."

#IAmABiologist

Dr Andrew Paterson | Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science
"My research investigates the role of infection and inflammation in reproductive health, pregnancy and fertility, plus the impact of contraception on female health and wellbeing. I love applying innovative experiments to discover exciting new knowledge and share this with the scientific community."

#IAmABiologist

Dr Rochelle Hockney | Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science
"My masters provided me with advanced laboratory-based skills and confidence in my ability. The work I do now is essential to ensure that drug therapies and treatments are working to the correct potency and ensuring their health and safety. Each day is different, with assays to perform, reagents to prepare and data to analyse. being able to support the constant improvement of these treatments through my work is something I love about my job and makes it so rewarding."

#IAmABiologist

Leah Fox | QC Analyst for Pharmaceutical Company (Recent MSc Medical Microbiology graduate from Leeds Beckett University)
"My research looks at how platelets, small blood cells that circulate in the blood, that normally help with wound healing can be activated when they should not be. This 'inappropriate' activation can lead to heart attacks and strokes when blood clots block up our blood vessels. Additionally, if someone has cancer, platelets treat the cancer as if it were a wound. This means platelets stick to the tumour and release growth-causing chemicals, resulting in further cancer growth.

My group aims to examine how platelet inhibiting chemicals can be used to 'switch off' platelets to see if this can lessen the likelihood of clot formation and stop platelet-induced cancer growth."

#IAmABiologist

Dr Wayne Roberts | Course Director in Biomedical Science

Biomedical Science PhD student, Cameron Stockwell

PhD and researcher opportunities

If you’re interested in possibly pursuing a PhD within the CBSR or are looking for sponsorship for a personal scholarship or research fellowship, we are always looking for potential proposals. Get in touch with the academic staff member who you may want to work with to discuss your idea or check our funded opportunities.

Find an academic supervisor View our funded opportunities

state-of-the-art facilities

Leeds Beckett University has invested close to £1m in new resources for biomedical science research. This includes a newly refurbished biomedical research laboratory, which is stocked with state-of-the-art biochemical and cell biology equipment.

Our facilities include: hi-tech AKTA protein purifier, Seahorse Metabolic Analyser, FACS, RT-PCR, microbial fermenter, Nanosight particle analyser, advanced plate-readers, amongst other available resources. Our biomedical laboratory facilities allow us to carry out advanced microbiology, biochemistry and cell biology research that can produce high-impact publications.