John Reid Professor of Pathology, Bute Medical School and Honorary Consultant Pathologist, NHS Tayside
Qualifications
MA (Cantab) MB BS (Lond) DPhil (Oxon) FRCP (Lond) FRCP (Edin) FRCPath
Recent Publications (PubMed search)
Areas of Expertise
Clinical and Experimental Pathology, with a particular interest in gynaecological disease
Molecular Pathology, particularly human papillomaviruses, interphase cytogenetics, retroviral methodology, raft culture
Research Interests
The use of biophotonics approaches for the early diagnosis of neoplasia
The mechanisms of interaction between human papillomaviruses and squamous epithelium during viral infection and the development of neoplasia.
The use of small molecules for the treatment of human papillomavirus-associated disease
External Committees
General Secretary, Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Vice-President, International Society of Gynecological Pathologists
Member of Council, British Division of the International Academy of Pathology
Member of the Board, Association for International Cancer Research
Editorial Commitments
Advisory Board Member, Journal of Pathology (Impact Factor 5.423, ISI 2007)
Editorial Board Member, Human Pathology
Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Gynecological Pathology
Editorial Board Member, Diagnostic Molecular Pathology
Research Summary
In collaboration with the physics and astronomy department in St Andrews, we are developing a programme for the investigation of spectroscopic approaches for the early detection of non-invasive neoplasia utilizing cross disciplinary experimental and theoretical techniques. This work was initially funded by a MRC / EPSRC discipline hopping award and its ultimate goal is to determine whether spectroscopy can discriminate between normal and neoplastic tissues. A EPSRC basic technology grant supports a programme for the development of novel materials for biophysics approaches to the interrogation of human cells and tissues, in collaboration with Cambridge, Sheffield, Heriot-Watt and Leeds Universities The group has recently been awarded a programme grant by CRUK/EPSRC to support an initiative to develop optical methods for cancer diagnosis. Click here for further details of the photonics collaboration.
The group is also investigating the clinical and biological effects of human papillomavirus infection and its role in the pathogenesis of epithelial neoplasia, particularly of the female genital tract. This involves a combination of the analysis of naturally occurring lesions and investigation of the properties of papillomavirus genes in vitro. In this way, the ability to manipulate experimental conditions in vitro is being coupled with investigation of the in vivo relevance of the observations made.
In collaboration with Dr Sonia Lain (University of Dundee), we have investigated the effects of the nuclear export inhibitor leptomycin on primary keratinocytes that express papillomavirus proteins. We have generated data showing that leptomycin rapidly induces apoptosis of keratinocytes expressing the E7 gene of HPV 16, with or without co-expression of HPV 16 E6. This suggests that this molecule may be of value in the treatment of HPV-associated neoplasia and further studies are planned to investigate the mechanisms by which this effect is brought about.
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