Keith Gull

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Keith Gull

CBE FRS FMedSci
Born (1948-05-29) 29 May 1948 (age 75) [1]
NationalityBritish
Alma mater King's College London (BSc, PhD)
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Studies on the Effect of Griseofulvin on Fungal Growth and Cytology  (1973)
Website users.path.ox.ac.uk/~kgull

Professor Keith Gull CBE FRS FMedSci (born 29 May 1948) [1] is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Molecular microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. He was the principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford [3] from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2018, succeeding Michael Mingos. [4] [5]

Contents

Education

Gull was educated at Eston Grammar School and King's College London where he was awarded a first class Bachelor of Science degree in 1969 followed by a PhD in 1973. [6]

Career and research

On completion of his PhD, he moved to a lectureship at the University of Kent. He held a personal chair at Kent when he moved to the University of Manchester where he spent the 1990s involved with the development of the School of Biological Sciences as Head of Biochemistry and Research Dean. He moved to Oxford in 2002. He was Chairman of the Biochemical Society (1999–2002), and is a trustee of Cancer Research UK. According to Google Scholar [7] and Scopus [8] his most cited peer-reviewed scientific papers are on Trypanosoma brucei [9] [10] and Trypanosoma cruzi . [11] More recently, the Gull laboratory [12] has worked on Leishmania . [13] [14]

After nine years as Principal Professor of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Gull retired at the end of the 2017-18 academic year, and was succeeded by Kathy Willis. [15] [16]

Controversy

During his tenure as Principal of St Edmund Hall, he was alleged to have exploited college finances by claiming £500 in “Christmas presents” and “gifts” between November and December 2015, and £185 on a desk lamp in November 2017. [17] Gull defended his Christmas expenses claims, but not the desk lamp claim. [18]

In 2010, Gull attracted criticism by his students and the national press for the decision to spend £15,000 on a college snowdrop garden amid budget cuts. He defended the decision, claiming the snowdrops will be "fantastic", but apologised for the way in which it was made. [19] [20] [21]

In 2015, Gull declined requests to clarify the status of claims made by Bongbong Marcos, son of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, about whether he finished his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. [22]

Awards and honours

Among numerous prizes, fellowships, and other awards, Keith Gull was awarded the Marjory Stephenson Prize from the Society for General Microbiology (1996), was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999), elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2003, [23] and was appointed a CBE in the 2004 New Year Honours list for services to microbiology. [24] He holds an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Kent. His certificate of election to the Royal Society reads:

Distinguished for his contributions to our understanding of the cell and molecular biology of eukaryotic microbes, especially fungi, slime moulds and trypanosomes. His work has provided important insights into how cells construct their cytoskeletons by modulating tubulin gene expression and protein modification. His novel approaches have led to discovery of unusual mechanisms of microtubule initiation and the partitioning of genomes in sleeping sickness trypanosomes, also of the relationship of division to differentiation in these parasites. His discovery of the mode of action of the antifungal agent griseofulvin has been followed by explanations of the selective toxicity and resistance mechanisms of fungicides and anthelminthics. [25]

Gull was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2010. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trypanosomatida</span> Flagellate kinetoplastid excavate order

Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid unicellular organisms distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek trypano (borer) and soma (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosomatid species. All members are exclusively parasitic, found primarily in insects. A few genera have life-cycles involving a secondary host, which may be a vertebrate, invertebrate or plant. These include several species that cause major diseases in humans. Some trypanosomatida are intracellular parasites, with the important exception of Trypanosoma brucei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinetoplastida</span> Flagellated protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa

Kinetoplastida is a group of flagellated protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa, and characterised by the presence of a distinctive organelle called the kinetoplast, a granule containing a large mass of DNA. The group includes a number of parasites responsible for serious diseases in humans and other animals, as well as various forms found in soil and aquatic environments. The organisms are commonly referred to as "kinetoplastids" or "kinetoplasts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsetse fly</span> Genus of disease-spreading insects

Tsetse are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus Glossina, which are placed in their own family, Glossinidae. The tsetse is an obligate parasite, which lives by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals. Tsetse has been extensively studied because of their role in transmitting disease. They have a pronounced economic impact in sub-Saharan Africa as the biological vectors of trypanosomes, causing human and animal trypanosomiasis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trypanosomiasis</span> Medical condition

Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma. In humans this includes African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. A number of other diseases occur in other animals.

<i>Trypanosoma</i> Genus of parasitic flagellate protist in the Kinetoplastea class

Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids, a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma is part of the phylum Sarcomastigophora. The name is derived from the Greek trypano- (borer) and soma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion. Most trypanosomes are heteroxenous and most are transmitted via a vector. The majority of species are transmitted by blood-feeding invertebrates, but there are different mechanisms among the varying species. Trypanosoma equiperdum is spread between horses and other equine species by sexual contact. They are generally found in the intestine of their invertebrate host, but normally occupy the bloodstream or an intracellular environment in the vertebrate host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melarsoprol</span> Medication used to treat sleeping sickness

Melarsoprol is an arsenic-containing medication used for the treatment of sleeping sickness. It is specifically used for second-stage disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense when the central nervous system is involved. For Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, eflornithine or fexinidazole is usually preferred. It is effective in about 95% of people. It is given by injection into a vein.

<i>Trypanosoma brucei</i> Species of protozoan parasite

Trypanosoma brucei is a species of parasitic kinetoplastid belonging to the genus Trypanosoma that is present in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike other protozoan parasites that normally infect blood and tissue cells, it is exclusively extracellular and inhabits the blood plasma and body fluids. It causes deadly vector-borne diseases: African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in humans, and animal trypanosomiasis or nagana in cattle and horses. It is a species complex grouped into three subspecies: T. b. brucei, T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense. The first is a parasite of non-human mammals and causes nagana, while the latter two are zoonotic infecting both humans and animals and cause African trypanosomiasis.

<i>Trypanosoma evansi</i> Contagious protist

Trypanosoma evansi is a parasitic species of excavate trypanosome in the genus Trypanosoma that is one cause of surra in animals. Discovered by Griffith Evans in 1880 at Dera Ismail Khan, it is the first known trypanosome that causes infection. It is a common parasite in India and Iran and causes acute disease in camels and horses, and chronic disease in cattle and buffalo. In Pakistan, it has been found to be the most prevalent trypanosome species in donkeys. It is now established to infect other mammals, including humans.

Etienne Pays is a Belgian molecular biologist and professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. His research interest is on trypanosomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative oxidase</span>

The alternative oxidase (AOX) is an enzyme that forms part of the electron transport chain in mitochondria of different organisms. Proteins homologous to the mitochondrial oxidase and the related plastid terminal oxidase have also been identified in bacterial genomes.

David Michael Patrick Mingos, FRS is a British chemist and academic. He was Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1999 to 2009, and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Fairlamb</span> British biochemist

Alan Hutchinson Fairlamb, CBE, FRSE, FLS, FMedSci, FRSB is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Biochemistry in the Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland. From 2006-2011 he was a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) -- an independent global programme of scientific collaboration co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and WHO. Currently he is a member of the governing board of the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation, whose aim is to accelerate the discovery and development of medicines to tackle diseases of the developing world in an open collaborative manner.

Wendy Gibson is Professor of Protozoology at University of Bristol, specialising in trypanosomes and molecular parasitology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Variant surface glycoprotein</span>

Variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) is a ~60kDa protein which densely packs the cell surface of protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma. This genus is notable for their cell surface proteins. They were first isolated from Trypanosoma brucei in 1975 by George Cross. VSG allows the trypanosomatid parasites to evade the mammalian host's immune system by extensive antigenic variation. They form a 12–15 nm surface coat. VSG dimers make up ~90% of all cell surface protein and ~10% of total cell protein. For this reason, these proteins are highly immunogenic and an immune response raised against a specific VSG coat will rapidly kill trypanosomes expressing this variant. However, with each cell division there is a possibility that the progeny will switch expression to change the VSG that is being expressed. VSG has no prescribed biochemical activity.

Piet Borst CBE is emeritus professor of clinical biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Amsterdam (UVA), and until 1999 director of research and chairman of the board of directors of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis (NKI-AVL). He continued to work at the NKI-AVL as a staff member and group leader until 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Michael Forde</span>

Robert Michael Forde was Colonial Surgeon in The Gambia when in 1901, he made the first definitive observation of trypanosomes in a human being when he found them in the blood of a steamboat master on the Gambia River. In 1907 he became principal medical officer of Sierra Leone.

(Thomas) Martin Embley is a professor at Newcastle University who has made contributions to our understanding of the origin of eukaryotes and the evolution of organelles such as mitochondria, mitosomes and hydrogenosomes, that are found in parasitic protists.

Professor Neil Hall is head of the Earlham Institute, a life science research centre in Norwich, England, and director of the Hall Group, which aims to understand why some infectious agents are more damaging than others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appolinaire Djikeng</span> Cameroonian biologist

Appolinaire Djikeng is a Cameroonian biologist and Professor and Chair for Tropical Agriculture and Sustainable Development and Director of the Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health at the University of Edinburgh. He was awarded the 2020 UNESCO Center for Peace Nelson Mandela Justice award in recognition of his international peace work.

Keith Roland Matthews,, , is a British cell biologist and parasitologist, currently Professor of Parasite Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on African trypanosomes, which cause human sleeping sickness and the equivalent cattle disease nagana.

References

  1. 1 2 Anon (2015). "Gull, Keith" . Who's Who (online Oxford University Press  ed.). A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U18407.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 "The EMBO Pocket Directory" (PDF). European Molecular Biology Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/index.php?section=47 The Principal, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford
  4. ↑ "The Hall elects its next Principal", St Edmund Hall
  5. ↑ "SEH academic staff", St Edmund Hall
  6. ↑ Gull, Keith (1973). Studies on the effect of griseofulvin on fungal growth and cytology (PhD thesis). London, Queen Elizabeth College. OCLC   681147643.
  7. ↑ ""keith gull" – Google Scholar" . Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  8. ↑ Keith Gull publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  9. ↑ Ngô, H.; Tschudi, C.; Gull, K.; Ullu, E. (1998). "Double-stranded RNA induces mRNA degradation in Trypanosoma brucei". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 95 (25): 14687–14692. Bibcode:1998PNAS...9514687N. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.25.14687 . PMC   24510 . PMID   9843950.
  10. ↑ Berriman, M.; Ghedin, E.; Hertz-Fowler, C.; Blandin, G.; Renauld, H.; Bartholomeu, D.; Lennard, N.; Caler, E.; Hamlin, N.; Haas, B.; Böhme, U.; Hannick, L.; Aslett, M. A.; Shallom, J.; Marcello, L.; Hou, L.; Wickstead, B.; Alsmark, U. C.; Arrowsmith, C.; Atkin, R. J.; Barron, A. J.; Bringaud, F.; Brooks, K.; Carrington, M.; Cherevach, I.; Chillingworth, T. J.; Churcher, C.; Clark, L. N.; Corton, C. H.; et al. (2005). "The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei". Science. 309 (5733): 416–422. Bibcode:2005Sci...309..416B. doi:10.1126/science.1112642. PMID   16020726. S2CID   18649858.
  11. ↑ El-Sayed, N. M.; Myler, P.; Bartholomeu, D.; Nilsson, D.; Aggarwal, G.; Tran, A.; Ghedin, E.; Worthey, E.; Delcher, A.; Blandin, G.; Westenberger, S. J.; Caler, E.; Cerqueira, G. C.; Branche, C.; Haas, B.; Anupama, A.; Arner, E.; Aslund, L.; Attipoe, P.; Bontempi, E.; Bringaud, F.; Burton, P.; Cadag, E.; Campbell, D. A.; Carrington, M.; Crabtree, J.; Darban, H.; Da Silveira, J. F.; De Jong, P.; Edwards, K. (2005). "The Genome Sequence of Trypanosoma cruzi, Etiologic Agent of Chagas Disease". Science. 309 (5733): 409–415. Bibcode:2005Sci...309..409E. doi:10.1126/science.1112631. hdl: 11336/80500 . PMID   16020725. S2CID   3830267.
  12. ↑ http://users.path.ox.ac.uk/~kgull/publications.htm Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Keith Gull lab publications
  13. ↑ Wheeler, R. J.; Gluenz, E.; Gull, K. (2011). "The cell cycle of Leishmania: Morphogenetic events and their implications for parasite biology". Molecular Microbiology. 79 (3): 647–662. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07479.x. PMC   3166656 . PMID   21255109.
  14. ↑ Hodges, M. E.; Scheumann, N; Wickstead, B; Langdale, J. A.; Gull, K (2010). "Reconstructing the evolutionary history of the centriole from protein components". Journal of Cell Science. 123 (Pt 9): 1407–13. doi:10.1242/jcs.064873. PMC   2858018 . PMID   20388734.
  15. ↑ "A Celebration of Keith Gull". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "St Edmund Hall elects new principal". ox.ac.uk. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Old boys' clubs and toilet brushes: how college bosses spend your money". Cherwell. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Exposed expenses hide a darker truth". Cherwell. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Fury sprouts over snowdrop garden". Cherwell. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  20. ↑ "Oxford college in row over £15,000 field of snowdrops". The Telegraph. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  21. ↑ "Oxford students hit out at £15,000 snowdrop field". The Telegraph. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  22. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Did Bongbong Marcos lie about Oxford, Wharton?". Rappler. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "Professor Keith Gull CBE FMedSci FRS". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015.
  24. ↑ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/57155/supplements/8 "New Year Honours List 2004"
  25. ↑ "Certificate of Election EC/2003/18: Keith Gull". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
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