{"id":202,"date":"2022-11-28T11:02:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T11:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_theme&p=202"},"modified":"2022-11-28T14:30:40","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T14:30:40","slug":"human-diseases","status":"publish","type":"research_theme","link":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/research-theme\/human-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":207,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-202","research_theme","type-research_theme","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"related_groups":[{"group_members":"Dr Louise Major<\/span>\r\nDr Farhan Ali<\/span>\r\nDr Michela Cerone<\/span>\r\n\r\nPhD students<\/span>\r\nJagwinder Dhaliwal<\/span>\r\nWilliam Mosedale<\/span>\r\nVeronica Harris<\/span>\r\nRachel Humman<\/span>\r\nNora Von Xylander<\/span>\r\nBerta Fatas<\/span>\r\nNgoc Anh Thu Trinh<\/span>\r\nVytautas Kuodis<\/span>\r\nPeter Black<\/span>\r\n\r\nM(Res)<\/span>\r\nOenone Bodman-Harris<\/span>","publications":"[publications flag='individual' code='tks1' dois='1' max='10' categorise='1']","research_projects":"The Smith group uses their interfacial chemical\/biological expertise to find, validate and exploit differences between protozoan and mammalian metabolism.Smith is a leading international authority on parasite lipid metabolism with important publications in this area. His group have to date validated >24 drug targets, conducted several screening campaigns and have 4 lead compound series, which are progressing through the drug discovery pipeline.<\/span>","related_theme":[202,200,119,95,93],"related_centre":77,"contact":"Prof Terry K. Smith CChem, FRSC; FRSB<\/span>\r\nDirector of the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex<\/span>\r\nUniversity Biological Hazards Adviser<\/span>\r\nDirector of the Cat 3<\/span>\r\nRadiation Safety Officer<\/span>\r\nOffice B3.10<\/span>\r\nBiomedical Sciences Research Complex (BSRC),<\/span>\r\nThe North Haugh,<\/span>\r\nThe University,<\/span>\r\nSt. Andrews,<\/span>\r\nFife Scotland.<\/span>\r\nKY16 9ST.<\/span>\r\nTel; office: 01334-463412<\/span>\r\nEmail: tks1@st-andrews.ac.uk<\/span>","ID":239,"post_title":"TKS","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nProf Terry Smith is an expert in phospholipid metabolism and the use of mass spectrometry techniques and heads the Lipidomics Facility with GC-MSs and ABSciex 4000 QTrap for lipidomic and focussed metabolomics. Smith being a joint appointment between Biology and Chemistry also has access to a wide-range of world-class analytical facilities, some of which will be utilised in this proposal, i.e. GC-MS and NMR. Prof Smith has received funding from the Wellcome Trust, SULSA, EU and studentships from BBSRC and MRC. He has more than 27 years\u2019 experience in the molecular and biochemical parasitology arena, including T. brucei, T. cruzi, Leishmania, Toxoplasma and Plasmodium. He has published over 75 papers in the last 10 years, including numerous successful collaborations undertaking lipidomic analyses of various pathogens and numerous models for human diseases.<\/span>","post_excerpt":"Prof Terry Smith is an expert in phospholipid metabolism and the use of mass spectrometry techniques and heads the Lipidomics Facility with GC-MSs and ABSciex 4000 QTrap for lipidomic and focussed metabolomics.","post_author":"87","post_date":"2022-12-12 16:03:48","post_date_gmt":"2022-12-12 16:03:48","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"tks","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-12-21 10:33:05","post_modified_gmt":"2022-12-21 10:33:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_group&p=239","menu_order":0,"post_type":"research_group","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","comments":false,"_thumbnail_id":["241","4","2022-12-12 16:03:15","2022-12-12 16:03:15","","Terry Smith","","inherit","open","closed","","slide1","","","2022-12-12 16:03:25","2022-12-12 16:03:25","","239","https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/12\/Slide1.jpg","0","attachment","image\/jpeg","0","241"],"id":239},{"group_members":"Sonja Vernes<\/span>\r\nAleksandra Wcislo<\/span>\r\nKirsty Hamilton<\/span>\r\nSasha Newar<\/span>\r\nIne Alvarez van Tussenbroek<\/span>\r\nBenjamin Thompson<\/span>\r\nSixue Lee<\/span>\r\nNikita Groot<\/span>\r\nAlexa Clarke<\/span>\r\nAlice Crighton<\/span>\r\nMike Cummings<\/span>\r\nMeike Mai<\/span>","publications":"[publications flag='individual' code='scv1' dois='1' max='10' categorise='1']","research_projects":"As part of our quest to understand the neurogenetic bases of vocal learning and social-vocal communication, we devote particular attention to the study of vocal learning and communication behaviour in bats. We use cutting-edge molecular techniques to identify genes and neural circuits that are important for vocal communication and learned vocalisations in this species. We also investigate the causes of language disorders in clinical populations to gain insight into the causes of these disorders, but also to understand the genetic factors underlying normal language development. Candidate genes identified in clinical populations are also explored in our animal models to understand what role they play and why their disruption leads to language-related disorders.<\/span>","related_theme":[33,46,122,201,202],"related_centre":77,"contact":"scv1@st-andrews.ac.uk<\/span>","ID":244,"post_title":"Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication","post_content":"Our research group focuses on the study of vocal communication in mammals as a way to understand the biological basis of human speech and language and how this trait evolved.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMany species of mammal, including our primate cousins, have limited vocal repertoires. But a few mammals such as bats, whales and elephants use complex and varied vocalisations that share some characteristics with human speech, for example, the ability to learn vocalisations from other members of their social group.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCurrently very little is known about the genetic basis for these sophisticated vocal behaviours in non-human mammals. Studying such species could provide clues about how human language evolved, and how language abilities are encoded in the brain and the genome.<\/span>","post_excerpt":"Our research group focuses on the study of vocal communication in mammals as a way to understand the biological basis of human speech and language and how this trait evolved.","post_author":"86","post_date":"2022-12-12 16:15:12","post_date_gmt":"2022-12-12 16:15:12","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"neurogenetics-of-vocal-communication","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-11-07 13:05:13","post_modified_gmt":"2025-11-07 13:05:13","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_group&p=244","menu_order":0,"post_type":"research_group","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","comments":false,"_thumbnail_id":["245","4","2022-12-12 16:15:02","2022-12-12 16:15:02","","Phyllostomus discolor_pale spear-nosed bat_Cr_Sonja Vernes","","inherit","open","closed","","phyllostomus-discolor_pale-spear-nosed-bat_cr_sonja-vernes","","","2022-12-12 16:15:02","2022-12-12 16:15:02","","244","https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/12\/Phyllostomus-discolor_pale-spear-nosed-bat_Cr_Sonja-Vernes.jpg","0","attachment","image\/jpeg","0","245"],"id":244},{"group_members":"Dr Remi Fritzen; Research Fellow<\/span>\r\nDongmei Wu; PhD student<\/span>\r\nJordan Marsh; PhD student<\/span>\r\nStephen Hierons; PhD student<\/span>\r\nHasnain Ahmed; PhD student<\/span>\r\nAmy Davies; Visiting Scholar<\/span>","publications":"[publications flag='individual' code='ajs21' dois='1' max='10' categorise='1']","research_projects":"Bilateral BBSRC-FAPESP: A \"speciomic\" toolkit to investigate fatty acid-mediated changes in plasma zinc speciation and their physiological effects.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTenovus Scotland: Assessment of the predictive value of plasma proteins in oesophageal adenocarcinoma treatment<\/span>\r\n\r\nBritish Heart Foundation: Plasma non-esterified fatty acids and fibrin clot formation in obesity \u2013 a relationship forged in zinc?<\/span>\r\n\r\nBritish Heart Foundation: Role of plasma fatty acid and zinc dynamics in platelet functioning: Implications for pathological clotting<\/span>","related_theme":[94,95,119,202],"related_centre":77,"contact":"Dr Alan J. Stewart PhD FRSB FRSC<\/span>\r\nReader in Molecular Medicine<\/span>\r\nSchool of Medicine<\/span>\r\nMedical and Biological Sciences Building<\/span>\r\nUniversity of St Andrews<\/span>\r\nSt Andrews<\/span>\r\nFife, KY16 9TF<\/span>\r\nUnited Kingdom<\/span>\r\n\r\nE-mail: ajs21@st-andrews.ac.uk<\/span>\r\nTel: +44 (0)1334 463546<\/span>","ID":263,"post_title":"Alan Stewart Group - Metal ions in Medicine","post_content":"Our work is centred on how metal ions, such as Zn2+, Ca2+ and Co2+ are transported through the blood and how their mishandling can lead to disease. A key part of my group\u2019s activity is the study of their interactions with circulatory proteins. At a cell and systems level, we are interested in how these interactions have a functional impact. We commonly utilise methods that examine the movement of Zn2+ and Ca2+ ions within cells and across membranes or measure their direct physiological functional outputs (e.g. coagulatory processes). Over the last few years, we have also worked closely with colleagues across the North Haugh particularly, the Mass Spectrometry Facility in St Andrews in the utilisation of quantitative proteomics clinical studies.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPlease visit our group website: https:\/\/metalion.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk\/<\/a><\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"Effects of fatty acid binding at the FA2 site on the primary zinc site of human serum albumin. (A) Structure of HSA with 5 molecules of myristate bound (PDB: 1BJ5). (B) Overlay of the main zinc-binding site in the myristate-bound structure (in green; PDB: 1BJ5) and the zinc-bound structure (in blue; PDB: 5IJF). A structural change is induced by fatty acid binding. This triggers the zinc-coordinating residue His67 to move 8 \u00c5 away from the other two coordinating side chains. Figure taken from Sobczak et al. (2021) Chem. Sci. <\/i>12: 4079-4093.","post_excerpt":"Our work is centred on how metal ions, such as Zn2+, Ca2+ and Co2+ are transported through the blood and how their mishandling can lead to disease.","post_author":"4","post_date":"2022-12-21 13:28:36","post_date_gmt":"2022-12-21 13:28:36","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"alan-stewart-group-metal-ions-in-medicine","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-12-21 13:30:07","post_modified_gmt":"2022-12-21 13:30:07","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_group&p=263","menu_order":0,"post_type":"research_group","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","comments":false,"_thumbnail_id":["264","4","2022-12-21 13:27:11","2022-12-21 13:27:11","","Picture1","","inherit","open","closed","","picture1","","","2022-12-21 13:27:11","2022-12-21 13:27:11","","263","https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/12\/Picture1.png","0","attachment","image\/png","0","264"],"id":263}],"related_centre":[{"ID":77,"post_title":"Biomedical Sciences Research Complex","post_content":"The\u00a0Biomedical Sciences Research Complex (BSRC) is an interdisciplinary centre for biomedical research with contributions from the Schools of Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Astronomy.\u00a0The BSRC's main research themes are infection and immunity, biophysics, molecular medicine, and chemical biology.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMain Website<\/a>","post_excerpt":"","post_author":"4","post_date":"2022-01-17 15:53:50","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-17 15:53:50","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"biomedical-sciences-research-complex","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-09-20 13:31:47","post_modified_gmt":"2022-09-20 12:31:47","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_centre&p=77","menu_order":0,"post_type":"research_centre","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","comments":false,"id":77}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_theme\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_theme"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research_theme"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}