Gordon Dougan | |
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![]() Gordon Dougan in 2009 | |
Born | Gordon Dougan |
Education | Scunthorpe Grammar School John Leggott College [1] |
Alma mater | University of Sussex (BSc, PhD) [2] |
Awards | EMBO Member (2011) [3] |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | |
Thesis | An Analysis of the Structure and Function of Plasmid Cole 1 (1977) |
Doctoral advisor | David Sherratt |
Doctoral students | Mark Pallen [ citation needed ] Kat Holt [ citation needed ] |
Website | www |
Gordon Dougan FRS FMedSci [2] is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge and head of pathogen research and a member of the board of management at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, United Kingdom. [4] He is also a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. During his career, Dougan has pioneered work on enteric diseases and been heavily involved in the movement to improve vaccine usage in developing countries. In this regard he was recently voted as one of the top ten most influential people in the vaccine world by people working in the area. [5]
Dougan grew up on a council estate in Scunthorpe [6] and was educated at Henderson Avenue Junior School, Scunthorpe Grammar School and John Leggott College. [1] He graduated with a degree in Biochemistry [2] and received his PhD, both from the University of Sussex. [7]
After his PhD, Dougan completed postdoctoral research at the University of Washington (Seattle) in the laboratory of Professor Stanley Falkow. Dougan's research team studies enteric pathogens with a strong emphasis on basic pathogenic mechanisms and immunology. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] He has a particular interest in using genomics to study host/pathogens interactions, in particular using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the cause of typhoid. He has extensive experience working both in industry and in academia. Before moving to the WTSI he was the Director of the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection at the Imperial College London and a Professor of Physiological Biochemistry. There he was responsible for securing multimillion-pound funding for a new building in Kensington and providing infrastructure for the science.
Throughout his career Dougan has served as a referee, advisor and consultant for numerous institutions, universities, boards, committees and other organisations. He was a trustee of the International Vaccine Institute in Korea and has worked with other global agencies including the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Innovations (now GAVI Alliance).
Dougan was a lecturer in the Moyne Institute in Trinity College, Dublin [ citation needed ] and then worked for over ten years in industry developing vaccines and novel drugs at the Wellcome Foundation (now GlaxoSmithKline GSK). He has participated in early and late clinical studies on several vaccines and is an expert in vaccinology/pathogenic mechanisms, specialising on the immunology of mucosal vaccines and molecular basis of infection. He has been Chair of the Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Scientific Advisory Board and has spun out a number of companies. He has published over 400 research papers, edited several books and has sat on the editorial boards of prestigious journals. [11] [17]
Dougan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012. His nomination reads:
Gordon Dougan is distinguished through his investigations into how bacteria interact with and stimulate the mucosal surfaces of the body during infection. His work has focused on bacterial pathogens, principally Salmonella Typhi and other enteric bacteria and has exploited genetic manipulation of both the host and pathogen. He has made important contributions to basic studies on the molecular basis of the infection process, genomics and to the development of practical vaccines. [18]
Dougan was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2011. [3] He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2002. [19] [20]
Dougan has been a lifelong supporter of Scunthorpe United [ citation needed ] and is an experienced beekeeper. [21]
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi bacteria, also called Salmonella typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several days. This is commonly accompanied by weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, and mild vomiting. Some people develop a skin rash with rose colored spots. In severe cases, people may experience confusion. Without treatment, symptoms may last weeks or months. Diarrhea may be severe, but is uncommon. Other people may carry it without being affected, but are still contagious. Typhoid fever is a type of enteric fever, along with paratyphoid fever. Salmonella enterica Typhi is believed to infect and replicate only within humans.
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of Salmonella are Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori. S. enterica is the type species and is further divided into six subspecies that include over 2,650 serotypes. Salmonella was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850–1914), an American veterinary surgeon.
Salmonella enterica is a rod-shaped, flagellate, facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium and a species of the genus Salmonella. It is divided into six subspecies, arizonae (IIIa), diarizonae (IIIb), houtenae (IV), salamae (II), indica (VI), and enterica (I). A number of its serovars are serious human pathogens; many of them are serovars of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica.
Salmonellosis is a symptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the Salmonella type. It is the most common disease to be known as food poisoning, these are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. In humans, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms typically occur between 12 hours and 36 hours after exposure, and last from two to seven days. Occasionally more significant disease can result in dehydration. The old, young, and others with a weakened immune system are more likely to develop severe disease. Specific types of Salmonella can result in typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are specific types of salmonellosis, known collectively as enteric fever, and are, respectively, caused by salmonella typhi & paratyphi bacteria, which are only found in humans. Most commonly, salmonellosis cases arise from salmonella bacteria from animals, and chicken is a major source for these infections.
The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust.
A serotype or serovar is a distinct variation within a species of bacteria or virus or among immune cells of different individuals. These microorganisms, viruses, or cells are classified together based on their surface antigens, allowing the epidemiologic classification of organisms to a level below the species. A group of serovars with common antigens is called a serogroup or sometimes serocomplex.
Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of three types of Salmonella enterica. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a gradual onset of a high fever occurs over several days. Weakness, loss of appetite, and headaches also commonly occur. Some people develop a skin rash with rose-colored spots. Without treatment, symptoms may last weeks or months. Other people may carry the bacteria without being affected; however, they are still able to spread the disease to others. Typhoid and paratyphoid are of similar severity. Paratyphoid and typhoid fever are types of enteric fever.
Pathogenomics is a field which uses high-throughput screening technology and bioinformatics to study encoded microbe resistance, as well as virulence factors (VFs), which enable a microorganism to infect a host and possibly cause disease. This includes studying genomes of pathogens which cannot be cultured outside of a host. In the past, researchers and medical professionals found it difficult to study and understand pathogenic traits of infectious organisms. With newer technology, pathogen genomes can be identified and sequenced in a much shorter time and at a lower cost, thus improving the ability to diagnose, treat, and even predict and prevent pathogenic infections and disease. It has also allowed researchers to better understand genome evolution events - gene loss, gain, duplication, rearrangement - and how those events impact pathogen resistance and ability to cause disease. This influx of information has created a need for bioinformatics tools and databases to analyze and make the vast amounts of data accessible to researchers, and it has raised ethical questions about the wisdom of reconstructing previously extinct and deadly pathogens in order to better understand virulence.
Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica is a subspecies of Salmonella enterica, the rod-shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. Many of the pathogenic serovars of the S. enterica species are in this subspecies, including that responsible for typhoid.
Salmonella bongori is a pathogenic bacterium belonging to the genus Salmonella, and was earlier known as Salmonella subspecies V or S. enterica subsp. bongori or S. choleraesuis subsp. bongori. It is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium (bacillus), which causes a gastrointestinal disease called salmonellosis, characterized by cramping and diarrhoea. It is typically considered a microbe of cold-blooded animals, unlike other members of the genus, and is most frequently associated with reptiles.
Julian Parkhill is Professor of Bacterial Evolution in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge. He previously served as head of pathogen genomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Edward Thomas Ryan is an American microbiologist, immunologist, and physician at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Ryan served as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from 2009 to 2010. Ryan is Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Director of Global Infectious Diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Ryan's research and clinical focus has been on infectious diseases associated with residing in, immigrating from, or traveling through resource-limited areas. Ryan is a Fellow of the American Society of Microbiology, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American College of Physicians, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Mark Achtman FRS is Professor of Bacterial Population Genetics at Warwick Medical School, part of the University of Warwick in the UK.
Host-directed therapeutics, also called host targeted therapeutics, act via a host-mediated response to pathogens rather than acting directly on the pathogen, like traditional antibiotics. They can change the local environment in which the pathogen exists to make it less favorable for the pathogen to live and/or grow. With these therapies, pathogen killing, e.g.bactericidal effects, will likely only occur when it is co-delivered with a traditional agent that acts directly on the pathogen, such as an antibiotic, antifungal, or antiparasitic agent. Several antiviral agents are host-directed therapeutics, and simply slow the virus progression rather than kill the virus. Host-directed therapeutics may limit pathogen proliferation, e.g., have bacteriostatic effects. Certain agents also have the ability to reduce bacterial load by enhancing host cell responses even in the absence of traditional antimicrobial agents.
Duncan John Maskell, is a British and Australian biochemist, academic, and academic administrator, who specialises in molecular microbiology and bacterial infectious diseases. Since 2018, he has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Australia but retires in 2025. He previously taught at the University of Cambridge, England.
Dipshikha Chakravortty is an Indian microbiologist, molecular pathologist and a professor at the department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at the Indian Institute of Science. Known for her studies on Salmonella and antibacterial resistance, Chakravortty is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded her the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for her contributions to biosciences, in 2010. Prof. Chakravortty has been elected as an prestigious INSA Council member, which will be functional from January 2024 Prof Chakravortty is among the top3% of the Scientists in India https://www.adscientificindex.com/scientist/dipshikha-chakravortty/298893
Santasabuj Das is an Indian medical doctor, molecular immunologist, bioinformatician and a scientist at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata. He is known for his studies on the pathogenesis of various types of infections caused by Salmonella in humans and is an elected fellow of the West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. He is a former Fulbright scholar and a life member of the Probiotic Association of India, the Society of Biological Chemists, India and the Indian Science Congress Association. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2011.
Kathryn "Kat" Elizabeth Holt is an Australian computational biologist specializing in infectious disease genomics. She is a professor at Monash University's Department of Infectious Diseases and a professor of Microbial Systems Genomics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Her current research focuses on investigating the evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. In 2015, Holt received the L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talent Award.
Melita Alison Gordon is a gastroenterologist who works on invasive gut pathogens and tropical gastrointestinal disease. She leads the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Salmonella and Enterics Group. Gordon was awarded the British Society of Gastroenterology Sir Francis Avery Jones Research Medal in 2011.
Trevor Lawley FMedSci is a Faculty member and Group Leader in the Host-Microbiota Interactions Lab at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (WSI). He is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the biotech company Microbiotica.