INSPIRE Veterinary Ambassadors
Dr Kathryn Allan
Opportunities
Our lab works on a variety of infectious diseases that affect animal and human health. There are opportunities to meet with vets working in applied research, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and to hear about applied veterinary research in East Africa.
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Zoonoses; One Health; Livestock diseases
Professor Sarah Cleaveland
Opportunities
Opportunities to meet with Sarah Cleaveland and other colleagues working on One Health, tropical veterinary medicine and wildlife conservation to discuss international research activities and career opportunities for vets.
Opportunities to join special interest groups that might be of interest to vets e.g. Disease Ecology, Bacteriology, Diversity interest groups, as well as journal club activities and seminars, including activities organised through the Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health and the Glasgow Centre for International Development.
Some opportunities for summer projects and work experience, although given financial, logistic and administrative challenges of setting up short-term work placements in Africa, these opportunities are likely to be limited to desk-based work on existing data, but might include work at the research/policy interface. Potential opportunities for lab projects involving analyses of archived samples in collaboration with other centres and collaborating institutions.
Opportunities to support students in establishing contact networks for international veterinary work.
Main expertise/area of interest
One Health; Tropical Veterinary Medicine; Wildlife Conservation
Professor Sandra Corr
Opportunities
Opportunities to meet with Sandra Corr and colleagues in the Small Animal Hospital, to join clinical case rounds and seminars, and to discuss career opportunities. We are particularly keen to encourage students to become involved in clinical research projects, both relating to small animals, and wider One Health topics.
- Journal clubs
- Seminars
- Opportunities for individual meetings
- Possible supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Surgery; Orthopaedics; Ethics; Veterinary.
Ellen Hughes
Opportunities
Our lab frequently takes students for honours and masters projects relating to various aspects of virology. As a group, we work on morbilliviruses, including measles and PPRV; feline viruses, including FeLV and calicivirus; and Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever virus. Enquiries from students interested in the work we do are always welcome!
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
Main expertise/area of interest
Zoonoses, Epidemiology, Veterinary Public Health, Tanzania
Professor Jo Morris
Opportunities
I can offer insight into clinical research/data analysis etc and have some links with research laboratories although I don’t have my own lab space as such.
- Journal clubs
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
Main expertise/area of interest
Clinical oncology; Canine lymphoma; Serum biomarkers.
Professor Margaret Hosie
Opportunities
Currently working in the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, I pursue my interests in feline virology, with projects on diagnostics and vaccine development. My research has implications for improving feline welfare as well as having wider, comparative significance. I encourage and support veterinary graduates wishing to pursue research careers and, to date, 5 of the 10 PhD projects that I have supervised to completion were conducted by veterinary graduates. If students are considering research careers, I would be pleased to meet to discuss potential career paths and to help arrange laboratory placements so that students can gain experience of working in a research environment.
Main expertise/area of interest
Comparative feline virology; Diagnostics; Vaccination.
Sarah Jones
Opportunities
- Individual meetings
Main expertise/area of interest
Equine, Sarcoid, Veterinary, Behaviour, Epidemiology, RNA-seq, Bioinformatics, Laboratory
Professor Nicholas Jonsson
Opportunities
Lab-based and bioinformatics projects. Occasional possibilities of field-based projects. In the future we hope to be able to offer projects in the field in Botswana.
Sample projects:
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CD45 – PTPRC: PTPRC is a gene of importance for the regulation of immune response is highly polymorphic in cattle. We wish to determine the architecture of the gene, confirm the presence and frequencies of polymorphisms in the gene, propose an evolutionary history for the gene, and determine the extent to which variation in the gene is responsible for variation in immune responsiveness. The project will involve sequencing of defined areas of the gene, as suggested by NGS work that we have already conducted, followed by phylogenetic analysis.
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Octopamine/tyramine receptor and the beta-adrenergic octopamine receptor of the cattle ticks of subgenus Boophilus: The Boophilid ticks are of great economic importance and resistance to acaricides used for their control is increasingly common. Both the named receptors have been shown to be associated with resistance to amitraz, an otherwise very useful acaricide. We wish to confirm the presence of previously identified polymorphisms in the octopamine/tyramine receptor in samples from around the world, relate that to known acaricide resistance status, propose an evolutionary history for the genes, and determine the extent of genetic linkage between them. This project will involve sequencing of the octopamine/tyramine receptor and analysis of data.
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Differential gene expression in ruminal papillae of sheep and cattle after challenge with soluble carbohydrates: We wish to compare the gene expression of ruminal papillae of sheep and cattle before and after challenge with a heavy load of soluble carbohydrates to determine the extent to which sheep could be useful as a model for soluble carbohydrate overload in cattle. We have conducted the experiment and have the next generation sequencing (NGS) reads ready for analysis. This is a bioinformatics project in which the student will take a set of NGS reads through the analysis pipeline to identify genes that are differentially expressed in cattle and in sheep.
Main expertise/area of interest
Veterinary Parasitology; Ticks; Tick-Borne Disease; Genetics.
Professor Dominic Mellor
Opportunities
My time is divided between working for Health Protection Scotland (HPS) (equivalent to Scotland’s National Public Health agency) as a consultant on zoonoses and on antimicrobial resistance, and being Director of a multi-institution research programme called ‘EPIC: Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks’. Both can be described as ‘One Health’ initiatives.
The team at HPS is comprised of doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, statisticians and scientists specializing in public health. The work involves 1) responding to outbreaks (almost exclusively of human infectious diseases) – identifying and interviewing cases about their exposure histories, and making decisions about what investigations to carry out and what interventions to make to prevent further cases; 2) working on projects to assess disease risks and develop evidence based guidance and support for the health service and for patients. Opportunities here can exist for small numbers of students to attend planned topic specific meetings that discuss issues of zoonotic diseases and/or AMR. It is potentially possible to run small desk based research projects that review evidence in support of policy decisions.
EPIC is concerned with providing scientific evidence to inform animal health policy at Scottish Government level, principally in response to and/or in mitigation against exotic notifiable animal disease outbreaks. Again the work is epidemiological in focus, but draws on social science and is heavily influenced by the need to make the work relevant for policy, often with very short timescales. Opportunities involve attendance at various scientifically focussed meetings, interactions with policy makers and government veterinarians, as well as the potential to run desk based projects developing evidence to inform policy.
In either component, the unique key skills development opportunities are exposure to decision making as it happens in terms of human and animal health policy as well as rapid and coherent summary of scientific evidence to inform policy decisions.
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
‘One Health’, Policy; Epidemiology; Communication.
Dr Pablo Murcia
Opportunities
Opportunities to attend lab meetings, seminars, individual meetings; opportunities for the supervision of summer projects.
Main expertise/area of interest
Zoonotic Infections and Viral Emergence; Virus Pathogenesis.
Professor Massimo Palmarini
Mr Rodrigo Gutierrez Quintana
Opportunities
Comparative neurology: Characterize the phenotype and genotype of naturally occurring canine and feline neurological diseases. We believe we can help improve veterinary care for our patients, and at the same time use this knowledge to generate valuable models for diseases that affect humans. Our aim is to help understanding the pathophysiology of these diseases and identify potential therapeutic targets.
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
Main expertise/area of interest
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Epilepsy
- Neuro-oncology
- Neuro-genetics
- Neuro-immunology
Professor Ian Ramsey
Opportunities
I am always happy to discuss my ongoing clinical research in small animal endocrinology with students – contact me via email. From time to time I also have projects in point of care laboratory testing in the clinical environment. I am also happy to put students into contact with other clinicians within the small animal hospital who may be undertaking clinical research.
- Opportunities to attend seminars (every Friday 0930-1030)
- Opportunities for individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
I have some international contacts as well – mainly in endocrinology.
Main expertise/area of interest
Small Animal Clinical Endocrinology.
Dr Philip Robinson
Opportunities
I am particularly interested in how the people who care for animals affect their health and welfare, and especially the success or otherwise of disease control programmes. I like to ask questions such as: What do animal owners think about animal health and welfare? Why do they do what they do, and possibly ignore veterinary advice to the contrary? What do farmers understand of disease epidemiology and the principles of disease control? How do veterinarians advise their clients, and what is their response? I was introduced to qualitative research back in 2010 during a scholarship in the United States when I used a focus group approach to interview production animal veterinarians about the factors influencing their use of veterinary diagnostic laboratories. I found it so fascinating to investigate these ‘people factors’ in veterinary surveillance that I repeated the project with veterinarians in Northern Ireland, and from then on I was hooked on qualitative research! This led me to a PhD in human geography at Durham University where I investigated why bovine tuberculosis has yet to be eradicated in Northern Ireland. Having worked on bTB throughout my career, I wanted to find out the ‘on-the-ground’ viewpoints of farmers, veterinarians and other stakeholders involved in the bTB programme, and to understand their perspectives on disease control. I am currently researching Johne’s disease control using a semi-structured interview approach with farmers and veterinarians. I have also supervised PhD and honours research projects on a wide range of animal health and welfare issues across the animal species, including dairy and beef cattle, equines, sheep and pigs. The possibilities are almost limitless, but you need to have a passion for meeting people and understanding their viewpoints. The ability to listen as well as speak makes a good qualitative researcher. Social science approaches can answer some of the ‘why’ questions that natural science can only partially answer. We need both approaches to work in tandem to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of disease and how to improve animal health and welfare across a wide range of themes and issues.
- Journal clubs
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Veterinary public health; Animal health and welfare; Veterinary epidemiology; Qualitative research methodologies; Social science.
Dr Lorenzo Viora
Opportunities
Opportunities to meet with Lorenzo and colleagues in Farm Animal Clinical Sciences, to join journal clubs on farm animal related topics, to discuss career opportunities and further training at postgraduate level if interested.
- Journal clubs
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Farm Animal; Dairy; Mastitis; Reproduction; Herd Health
Professor William Weir
Opportunities
The infectious disease laboratory forms part of the University of Glasgow Veterinary Diagnostic Services. Through our diagnostic activities we routinely detect and isolate a variety of viruses, bacteria and parasites from companion animal samples. We are involved in a range of research projects, collaborating with colleagues in the Centre for Virus Research and the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine (Veterinary Parasitology and ‘One Health’ Bacteriology laboratories). We have opportunities for laboratory placement to provide experience in all aspects of companion animal infectious disease testing and are able to host summer students for project work. Current areas of interest include the molecular epidemiology of Giardia and Streptococcus, FIP diagnostics, informatic approaches for pathogen outbreak detection and the development of a feline enteroid culture system.
- Lab meetings
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
- Infectious disease
- Diagnostics
- Bioinformatics
INSPIRE Biomedical Ambassadors
Professor Maureen Bain
Dr Collette Britton
Opportunities
Happy to show students round our lab facilities and explain what we do. In most years I have also supervised Veterinary undergraduate summer projects.
Main expertise/area of interest
Parasite; Nematode; Vaccines; Drugs; Genes.
Professor Eileen Devaney
Dr Julia Edgar
Professor Neil Evans
Opportunities
Our laboratory welcomes students who wish to gain research experience wither during term time or during vacations. In addition we are happy to host intercalated MSc students.
Main expertise/area of interest
Neuroendocrinology; Toxicology; Stress; Welfare; Gender Dysphoria; Puberty.
Sarah Jones
Opportunities
- Individual meetings
Main expertise/area of interest
Equine, Sarcoid, Veterinary, Behaviour, Epidemiology, RNA-seq, Bioinformatics, Laboratory
Dr Annette MacLeod
Professor Louise Matthews
Dr Dorothy McKeegan
Opportunities
There are opportunities to meet with Dr McKeegan to discuss her research and relevant topics in animal welfare and veterinary ethics. Summer project supervision is also occasionally available; contact Dr McKeegan to discuss possibilities.
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Animal Welfare; Behaviour; Veterinary Ethics; Avian; Poultry.
Dr Mark McLaughlin
Opportunities
Several ongoing projects are exploring neurological basis of disease, development of primary cell culture protocols, biomarker identification and validation in relation to disease and animal nutrition. We are a well-equipped lab employing a range of methods for protein dynamics, RNA and DNA isolation, PCR analysis for genotyping and mRNA expression and cell imaging to investigate pathways associated with mutant proteins associated with disease. Collaborative studies are using state of the art ‘omics’ technology to investigate the impact of animal nutrition on health and disease.
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Neurodegeneration, myelin, protein dynamics, cell culture and biomarkers.
Professor Peter O'Shaughnessy
Prof O’Shaughnessy’s group are interested in development with a particular emphasis on male reproduction and how it might be affected by maternal lifestyle. This “fetal programming” is likely to be fundamental to understanding health problems in the mature and ageing population. Most of the work is related to the human or uses mouse models to try to understand basic mechanisms of development. There are opportunities to meet with Prof O’Shaughnessy and other members of the group to discuss their research or any other work which is relevant.
Main expertise/area of interest
Development; Reproduction; Fetal Programming.
Professor Brian Shiels
Professor Brian Willett
Opportunities
To meet with researchers studying viral diseases of livestock and wildlife, to see the techniques being used to improve diagnosis and management. Opportunities to discuss topical viral diseases.
- Lab meetings
- Seminars
- Individual meetings
- Supervision of summer projects
Main expertise/area of interest
Virology; Immunology; Diagnosis