Research

Our department research focuses on the biology of human health and disease. It includes the traditional disciplines of cell and developmental biology alongside innovative research programmes that cross the traditional disciplines of biology, medicine, engineering and the physical sciences, drawing basic and clinician scientists together. This creates a unique environment for translating physiology, cell biology and developmental biology into innovative opportunities to treat human diseases, including neurodegeneration, deafness, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and muscular dystrophy.

In the Research Assessment Exercise for 2008, we (together with the Departments of Animal and Plant Sciences and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology) were ranked in third place in the UK for research in Biological Sciences. (Source: Times Higher Education).

Research Themes

Our research comprises six integrated themes:

Cell and Developmental Biology

Cell Biology and Developmental Biology involve the study of cellular processes and the mechanisms by which organisms grow and develop.

Hearing and Balance

In this this theme, we study the normal development and function of the vertebrate auditory and vestibular systems together with disease states.

Musculoskeletal and Cardiovascular Biology

This theme embraces research into the cytoskeleton, musculoskeletal development and cardiovascular biology.

Neuroscience and Neurodegenerative Disease

In this theme, we are interested in the development and diseases that control and affect affect the nervous system.

Pain and Inflammation

This theme embraces the physiology and pharmacology of neuro-immune interactions and its impact on inflammatory disorders such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Asthma and the development of novel treatments.

Stem Cells and Cancer

Stem cells may ultimately be useful in achieving the repair of diseased tissues, but recently it has been established that stem cells represent the source of some, and perhaps all, cancers.

Research Centres

Our three major Research Centres are international and interdisciplinary with external collaboration and funding.

The MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics (CDBG) was awarded MRC Centre status in 2007 and brings together basic and clinician scientists using non-mammalian model organisms to understand the genetic basis of human development and disease. The acting Director is Professor Marysia Placzek.

The Centre for Stem Cell Biology (CSCB) focuses on the development of human embryonic stem cell technologies and hosts a number of commercial and academic partnerships. The Director is Professor Peter Andrews.

The Centre for Membrane Interactions and Dynamics brings together cell biologists investigating the basic mechanisms underpinning membrane traffic and cytoskeletal dynamics with physical scientists, computational biologists and clinicians with the ultimate aim of developing improved therapies. The director is Professor Elizabeth Smythe.