Affiliations
app
Teaching
Masters teaching
I teach on multiple MSc modules, including core Parasitology & Entomology (M3122) in term 1; Recombinant DNA Techniques (M3131), Advanced Training in Molecular Biology (M3158) and Molecular & Cell Biology of Infectious Diseases (M3260) in term 2; and Novel Drug Discovery & AMR (M3169) in term 3.
I'm co-module organiser for Advanced Training in Molecular Biology (M3158) with Dr Rob Moon. I'm also a tutor for the MSc in Medical Parasitology & Entomology, and serve on the MSc's programme committee and exam board.
Research Degrees
I'm co-Head of Doctoral College with Prof Alex Mold (since August 2021), with oversight of the student journey from application to award, and responsibility for the strategic development of research degrees at LSHTM. Before taking on this role, I was Faculty Research Degrees Director for the Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases (2020-21) and Departmental Research Degrees Coordinator for the Department of Infection Biology (2014-2020).
I'm also LSHTM's academic lead for the BBSRC doctoral training programme, sitting on the Management and Research & Training committees (Chair, 2017-2021, and co-Chair, since 2024, of the latter). The programme includes eight partner HEIs and ~200 PhD students working on a diverse range of interdisclinary bioscience research projects.
I've co-supervised four PhD students with colleagues at Glasgow University, University College London, University of Ghana, and Queen Marys University of London, and served on advisory committees for two LSHTM PhD students.
I've acted as an external MPhil and PhD examiner at the Universities of Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews, and Ghana.
Research
My focuses on the interactions between Trypanosoma brucei and its host environment.
I'm particularly interested in the uptake and intracellular transit of parasite- and host-derived molecules, such as nutrients, drugs and innate immune factors, and the genetic control of antigenic variation and ribosomal RNA transcription. My research is underpinned by a combination of high-throughput forward genetic screens and reverse genetic approaches, enabling the identification and characterisation of proteins involved in the uptake and intracellular transit of these molecules, as well as the parasite's response to them.
Using a high throughput genetic screen (Currier et al, 2018), we identified 63 parasite proteins that contribute to the trypanolytic action of apolipoprotein-L1 (the toxic component of human serum trypanolytic complexes), and we're now exploring their roles in apoL1 action, as well as broader T. brucei biology. Intriguingly, ten of our putative apoL1 sensitivity determinants have roles in dynamic ubiquitination and intracellular membrane trafficking.
We've also taken a similar approach to explore anti-leishmanial drug action (Collett et al, 2019), identifying a panel of candidate drug efficacy determinants in T. brucei, which is still a more tractable system than its fellow kinetoplastid parasite, Leishmania. We're now exploring their contribution to drug efficacy and their roles in T. brucei and Leishmania biology.
We've also applied this high throughput RNAi library approach to identifying the genetic determinants of RNA polymerase-I driven VSG monoallelic expression (Glover et al 2016; Davies et al 2021). By combining the RNAi library selection with a panel of bespoke rDNA locus reporter cell lines, we're now exploring the regulation of rRNA transcription and its intersection with VSG expression and differentiation.
The full range of plasmids for tagged protein expression and RNAi knockdown in T. brucei, developed in conjunction with David Horn, are freely available to the research community - details can be found on the of my lab website.