Trevor Lawley

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Image of Trevor Lawley Trevor Lawley.jpg
Image of Trevor Lawley

Trevor Lawley FMedSci is a Faculty member and Senior 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.

Contents

During his career, Lawley has pioneered the application of high throughput genomic and culturing approaches to characterise enteric pathogens and investigate the microbiomes contained on and within host organisms, during periods of health and disease.

Education and career

Lawley received his bachelor's degree in Biology in 1997 from Acadia University. He then studied for a PhD at the University of Alberta, in the laboratories of Diane Taylor and Laura Frost, where he studied the mechanisms that pathogenic bacteria use to disseminate antibiotic resistance genes. [1] After his PhD, Trevor was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research post-doctoral fellowship to work in the Laboratories of Stanley Falkow and Denise Monack at Stanford University, where he studied the impact of antibiotic treatment on Salmonella disease and transmission. [2]

In 2007 Lawley received a Royal Society of London Award to start a research programme on Clostridioides difficile disease and transmission at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. In 2010, he was appointed as a Career Development Fellow in the Sanger Institute Faculty and was promoted to Faculty Group Leader in 2014 and a Senior Group Leader in 2021. Lawley chairs the Wellcome Sanger Institute International Fellows programme, which focuses on empowering scientists from Low- and Middle-Income Countries through access to cutting-edge genomic technologies and training.

In December 2016, Lawley, together with Gordon Dougan and Mike Romanos, co-founded the biotech company Microbiotica through £12M seed funding from Cambridge Innovation Capital, IP Group and Seventure. Microbiotica develops Live Biotherapeutic Products, biomarkers and microbiome-based technologies focused on autoimmune diseases and cancers. In 2018, Microbiotica entered into a collaboration with Genentech to discover, develop and commercialise inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)biomarkers, targets and medicines. [3] In 2020, Microbiotica entered into a partnership with Cambridge University Hospitals and Cancer Research UK to discover and develop biomarkers and medicines for cancer immunotherapy patients with melanoma, renal cell carcinoma or lung cancer. [4] In March 2022, Microbiotica secured Series B funding to perform two phase 1 clinical studies for treatment of patients with melanoma (MELODY-1, NCT06540391) or ulcerative colitis (COMPOSER-1, NCT06582264). The two clinical trials started in 2024. [5] [6]

Research

Lawley leads the Host-Microbiota Interactions Lab at the Sanger Institute, which explores the relationship between humans and the bacteria and viruses that collectively form their microbiome. [7]

Lawley and his team use a range of methods and tools, including large scale metagenomic analysis, genetics, mouse and cellular models, state-of-the art microbial culturing, transcriptomics, proteomics and machine learning, to investigate the microbial communities associated with human health and a range of developmental disorders, diseases and poorly understood syndromes. They have a particular interest the roles of the microbiome in infectious disease, autoimmune disease, cancer and childhood developmental disorders. Their work has pioneered concepts, analytical tools and methodologies that, through data- and hypothesis-driven approaches, have led to foundational discoveries and enabled translation of medicines and diagnostics from the human microbiome.

Lawley and his team overturned the "great plate count anomaly dogma", long held in microbial ecology, by demonstrating the majority of the human gut microbiota is culturable. This breakthrough involved bacterial culturing, biobanking and genome sequencing at scale, leading to the development of fast, affordable, yet sophisticated, high-resolution gut microbiome analysis. [8] [9] [10] A major outcome of biobanking pure cultures has been experimental testing of biological hypotheses derived from metagenomic analysis, which moves the field towards studies of causation and enables the realisation of microbiome derived medicines.

They focus on several key areas including:

Lawley’s group has authored over 100 papers. Their work is regularly covered in the scientific and popular press. [32] [33]

Awards and honours

Lawley was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2023. [34] In 2015 Lawley received the Peggy Lillis Foundation “Innovator Award” for Pioneering Work on Live Biotherapeutics.

References

  1. ↑ Lawley, Trevor (2003). The Life Cycle of the Conjugative Plasmid (PhD thesis) (Thesis). University of Alberta.
  2. ↑ https://webapps.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/funding/detail_e?pResearchId=9805600&p_version=CIHR&p_language=E&p_session_id=3266369 [ dead link ]
  3. ↑ Hale, Conor (2018-06-06). "Genentech signs $534M deal with Microbiotica to search gut bacteria for IBD targets, new drugs | Fierce Biotech". www.fiercebiotech.com. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  4. ↑ Woodward, Victoria (2020-06-08). "Microbiotica to collaborate with CRUK and CUH in landmark cancer microbiome study". Cambridge Innovation Capital. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  5. ↑ "Microbiotica ready to cross therapeutic threshold with clinical trials milestone". Cambridge Independent. 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  6. ↑ Bayer, Max (2022-03-07). "Microbiotica nabs $67M to push 2 microbiome therapies through clinic | Fierce Biotech". www.fiercebiotech.com. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  7. ↑ "Lawley Lab". www.sanger.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  8. ↑ Browne, Hilary P.; Forster, Samuel C.; Anonye, Blessing O.; Kumar, Nitin; Neville, B. Anne; Stares, Mark D.; Goulding, David; Lawley, Trevor D. (2016-05-26). "Culturing of 'unculturable' human microbiota reveals novel taxa and extensive sporulation". Nature. 533 (7604): 543–546. Bibcode:2016Natur.533..543B. doi:10.1038/nature17645. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   4890681 . PMID   27144353.
  9. ↑ Forster, Samuel C.; Kumar, Nitin; Anonye, Blessing O.; Almeida, Alexandre; Viciani, Elisa; Stares, Mark D.; Dunn, Matthew; Mkandawire, Tapoka T.; Zhu, Ana; Shao, Yan; Pike, Lindsay J.; Louie, Thomas; Browne, Hilary P.; Mitchell, Alex L.; Neville, B. Anne (February 2019). "A human gut bacterial genome and culture collection for improved metagenomic analyses". Nature Biotechnology. 37 (2): 186–192. doi:10.1038/s41587-018-0009-7. ISSN   1087-0156. PMC   6785715 . PMID   30718869.
  10. ↑ Almeida, Alexandre; Mitchell, Alex L.; Boland, Miguel; Forster, Samuel C.; Gloor, Gregory B.; Tarkowska, Aleksandra; Lawley, Trevor D.; Finn, Robert D. (2019-04-25). "A new genomic blueprint of the human gut microbiota". Nature. 568 (7753): 499–504. Bibcode:2019Natur.568..499A. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-0965-1. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   6784870 . PMID   30745586.
  11. ↑ Camarillo-Guerrero, Luis F.; Almeida, Alexandre; Rangel-Pineros, Guillermo; Finn, Robert D.; Lawley, Trevor D. (February 2021). "Massive expansion of human gut bacteriophage diversity". Cell. 184 (4): 1098–1109.e9. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.029. PMC   7895897 . PMID   33606979.
  12. ↑ Beresford-Jones, Benjamin S.; Forster, Samuel C.; Stares, Mark D.; Notley, George; Viciani, Elisa; Browne, Hilary P.; Boehmler, Daniel J.; Soderholm, Amelia T.; Kumar, Nitin; Vervier, Kevin; Cross, Justin R.; Almeida, Alexandre; Lawley, Trevor D.; Pedicord, Virginia A. (January 2022). "The Mouse Gastrointestinal Bacteria Catalogue enables translation between the mouse and human gut microbiotas via functional mapping". Cell Host & Microbe. 30 (1): 124–138.e8. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2021.12.003. PMC   8763404 . PMID   34971560.
  13. ↑ Browne, Hilary P.; Almeida, Alexandre; Kumar, Nitin; Vervier, Kevin; Adoum, Anne T.; Viciani, Elisa; Dawson, Nicholas J. R.; Forster, Samuel C.; Cormie, Claire; Goulding, David; Lawley, Trevor D. (December 2021). "Host adaptation in gut Firmicutes is associated with sporulation loss and altered transmission cycle". Genome Biology. 22 (1): 204. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02428-6 . ISSN   1474-760X. PMC   8340488 . PMID   34348764.
  14. ↑ James, Kylie R.; Gomes, Tomas; Elmentaite, Rasa; Kumar, Nitin; Gulliver, Emily L.; King, Hamish W.; Stares, Mark D.; Bareham, Bethany R.; Ferdinand, John R.; Petrova, Velislava N.; Polański, Krzysztof; Forster, Samuel C.; Jarvis, Lorna B.; Suchanek, Ondrej; Howlett, Sarah (2020-03-02). "Distinct microbial and immune niches of the human colon". Nature Immunology. 21 (3): 343–353. doi:10.1038/s41590-020-0602-z. ISSN   1529-2908. PMC   7212050 . PMID   32066951.
  15. ↑ Almeida, Alexandre; Mitchell, Alex L.; Boland, Miguel; Forster, Samuel C.; Gloor, Gregory B.; Tarkowska, Aleksandra; Lawley, Trevor D.; Finn, Robert D. (2019-04-25). "A new genomic blueprint of the human gut microbiota". Nature. 568 (7753): 499–504. Bibcode:2019Natur.568..499A. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-0965-1. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   6784870 . PMID   30745586.
  16. ↑ Forster, Samuel C.; Kumar, Nitin; Anonye, Blessing O.; Almeida, Alexandre; Viciani, Elisa; Stares, Mark D.; Dunn, Matthew; Mkandawire, Tapoka T.; Zhu, Ana; Shao, Yan; Pike, Lindsay J.; Louie, Thomas; Browne, Hilary P.; Mitchell, Alex L.; Neville, B. Anne (February 2019). "A human gut bacterial genome and culture collection for improved metagenomic analyses". Nature Biotechnology. 37 (2): 186–192. doi:10.1038/s41587-018-0009-7. ISSN   1087-0156. PMC   6785715 . PMID   30718869.
  17. ↑ Browne, Hilary P.; Forster, Samuel C.; Anonye, Blessing O.; Kumar, Nitin; Neville, B. Anne; Stares, Mark D.; Goulding, David; Lawley, Trevor D. (2016-05-26). "Culturing of 'unculturable' human microbiota reveals novel taxa and extensive sporulation". Nature. 533 (7604): 543–546. Bibcode:2016Natur.533..543B. doi:10.1038/nature17645. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   4890681 . PMID   27144353.
  18. ↑ Shao, Yan; Forster, Samuel C.; Tsaliki, Evdokia; Vervier, Kevin; Strang, Angela; Simpson, Nandi; Kumar, Nitin; Stares, Mark D.; Rodger, Alison; Brocklehurst, Peter; Field, Nigel; Lawley, Trevor D. (2019-10-03). "Stunted microbiota and opportunistic pathogen colonization in caesarean-section birth". Nature. 574 (7776): 117–121. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..117S. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1560-1. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   6894937 . PMID   31534227.
  19. ↑ Njunge, James M.; Tickell, Kirkby; Diallo, Abdoulaye Hama; Sayeem Bin Shahid, Abu Sadat Mohammad; Gazi, Md. Amran; Saleem, Ali; Kazi, Zaubina; Ali, Syed; Tigoi, Caroline; Mupere, Ezekiel; Lancioni, Christina L.; Yoshioka, Emily; Chisti, Mohammod Jobayer; Mburu, Moses; Ngari, Moses (2022-11-03). "The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) network nested case-cohort study protocol: a multi-omics approach to understanding mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia". Gates Open Research. 6: 77. doi: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13635.2 . ISSN   2572-4754. PMC   9646488 . PMID   36415883.
  20. ↑ Browne, Hilary P; Shao, Yan; Lawley, Trevor D (October 2022). "Mother–infant transmission of human microbiota". Current Opinion in Microbiology. 69 102173. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2022.102173 . PMID   35785616. S2CID   250239760.
  21. ↑ Villemin, Clélia; Six, Anne; Neville, B. Anne; Lawley, Trevor D.; Robinson, Matthew J.; Bakdash, Ghaith (January 2023). "The heightened importance of the microbiome in cancer immunotherapy". Trends in Immunology. 44 (1): 44–59. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2022.11.002 . PMID   36464584. S2CID   254245428.
  22. ↑ Gunjur, Ashray; Manrique-Rincón, Andrea J; Klein, Oliver; Behren, Andreas; Lawley, Trevor D; Welsh, Sarah J; Adams, David J (July 2022). "'Know thyself' – host factors influencing cancer response to immune checkpoint inhibitors". The Journal of Pathology. 257 (4): 513–525. doi:10.1002/path.5907. ISSN   0022-3417. PMC   9320825 . PMID   35394069.
  23. ↑ Thompson, Nicola A.; Stewart, Grant D.; Welsh, Sarah J.; Doherty, Gary J.; Robinson, Matthew J.; Neville, B. Anne; Vervier, Kevin; Harris, Simon R.; Adams, David J.; Dalchau, Katy; Bruce, David; Demiris, Nikolaos; Lawley, Trevor D.; Corrie, Pippa G. (December 2022). "The MITRE trial protocol: a study to evaluate the microbiome as a biomarker of efficacy and toxicity in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy". BMC Cancer. 22 (1): 99. doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-09156-x . ISSN   1471-2407. PMC   8785032 . PMID   35073853.
  24. ↑ Forster, Samuel C.; Clare, Simon; Beresford-Jones, Benjamin S.; Harcourt, Katherine; Notley, George; Stares, Mark D.; Kumar, Nitin; Soderholm, Amelia T.; Adoum, Anne; Wong, Hannah; Morón, Bélen; Brandt, Cordelia; Dougan, Gordon; Adams, David J.; Maloy, Kevin J. (2022-04-01). "Identification of gut microbial species linked with disease variability in a widely used mouse model of colitis". Nature Microbiology. 7 (4): 590–599. doi:10.1038/s41564-022-01094-z. ISSN   2058-5276. PMC   8975739 . PMID   35365791.
  25. ↑ Kumar, Nitin; Browne, Hilary P.; Viciani, Elisa; Forster, Samuel C.; Clare, Simon; Harcourt, Katherine; Stares, Mark D.; Dougan, Gordon; Fairley, Derek J.; Roberts, Paul; Pirmohamed, Munir; Clokie, Martha R. J.; Jensen, Mie Birgitte Frid; Hargreaves, Katherine R.; Ip, Margaret (September 2019). "Adaptation of host transmission cycle during Clostridium difficile speciation". Nature Genetics. 51 (9): 1315–1320. doi:10.1038/s41588-019-0478-8. hdl: 2436/623457 . ISSN   1061-4036. PMID   31406348. S2CID   256819220.
  26. ↑ Collins, J.; Robinson, C.; Danhof, H.; Knetsch, C. W.; van Leeuwen, H. C.; Lawley, T. D.; Auchtung, J. M.; Britton, R. A. (January 2018). "Dietary trehalose enhances virulence of epidemic Clostridium difficile". Nature. 553 (7688): 291–294. Bibcode:2018Natur.553..291C. doi:10.1038/nature25178. ISSN   0028-0836. PMC   5984069 . PMID   29310122.
  27. ↑ Knetsch, C. W.; Kumar, N.; Forster, S. C.; Connor, T. R.; Browne, H. P.; Harmanus, C.; Sanders, I. M.; Harris, S. R.; Turner, L.; Morris, T.; Perry, M.; Miyajima, F.; Roberts, P.; Pirmohamed, M.; Songer, J. G. (March 2018). Fenwick, Brad (ed.). "Zoonotic Transfer of Clostridium difficile Harboring Antimicrobial Resistance between Farm Animals and Humans". Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 56 (3). doi:10.1128/JCM.01384-17. ISSN   0095-1137. PMC   5824051 . PMID   29237792.
  28. ↑ Kumar, Nitin; Miyajima, Fabio; He, Miao; Roberts, Paul; Swale, Andrew; Ellison, Louise; Pickard, Derek; Smith, Godfrey; Molyneux, Rebecca; Dougan, Gordon; Parkhill, Julian; Wren, Brendan W.; Parry, Christopher M.; Pirmohamed, Munir; Lawley, Trevor D. (2016-03-15). "Genome-Based Infection Tracking Reveals Dynamics of Clostridium difficile Transmission and Disease Recurrence". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 62 (6): 746–752. doi:10.1093/cid/civ1031. ISSN   1058-4838. PMC   4772841 . PMID   26683317.
  29. ↑ Fimlaid, Kelly A.; Bond, Jeffrey P.; Schutz, Kristin C.; Putnam, Emily E.; Leung, Jacqueline M.; Lawley, Trevor D.; Shen, Aimee (2013-08-08). Viollier, Patrick H. (ed.). "Global Analysis of the Sporulation Pathway of Clostridium difficile". PLOS Genetics. 9 (8): e1003660. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003660 . ISSN   1553-7404. PMC   3738446 . PMID   23950727.
  30. ↑ He, Miao; Miyajima, Fabio; Roberts, Paul; Ellison, Louise; Pickard, Derek J; Martin, Melissa J; Connor, Thomas R; Harris, Simon R; Fairley, Derek; Bamford, Kathleen B; D'Arc, Stephanie; Brazier, Jon; Brown, Derek; Coia, John E; Douce, Gill (January 2013). "Emergence and global spread of epidemic healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile". Nature Genetics. 45 (1): 109–113. doi:10.1038/ng.2478. ISSN   1061-4036. PMC   3605770 . PMID   23222960.
  31. ↑ Lawley, Trevor D.; Clare, Simon; Walker, Alan W.; Stares, Mark D.; Connor, Thomas R.; Raisen, Claire; Goulding, David; Rad, Roland; Schreiber, Fernanda; Brandt, Cordelia; Deakin, Laura J.; Pickard, Derek J.; Duncan, Sylvia H.; Flint, Harry J.; Clark, Taane G. (2012-10-25). Gilmore, Michael S. (ed.). "Targeted Restoration of the Intestinal Microbiota with a Simple, Defined Bacteriotherapy Resolves Relapsing Clostridium difficile Disease in Mice". PLOS Pathogens. 8 (10): e1002995. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002995 . ISSN   1553-7374. PMC   3486913 . PMID   23133377.
  32. ↑ Gallagher, James (25 October 2012). "'Faecal transplant' clue to treating gut bug". BBC. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  33. ↑ Sample, Ian (9 Dec 2012). "Drug-resistant C difficile bug traced to source in US and Canadian hospitals" . Retrieved 13 Jun 2023.
  34. ↑ "Outstanding biomedical and health researchers elected to Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship". Academy of Medical Sciences. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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