Research group leads: Dr Andrew Foey and Dr Vehid Salih

The mucosal modelling group represents an established research nucleus of scientists interested in mucosal biology and how signals received and responded to by mucosal barriers drive mucosal tissue homeostasis. This will enhance understanding of mucosal dysfunction underlying pathological mechanisms in chronic inflammatory disease and cancer. This Plymouth super-group brings together researchers and research intensity in a truly cross-school, cross-faculty and cross-disciplinary collaborative nature to address mucosal biology, focused on advancing knowledge of cellular and molecular functional interactions in health and disease. Through this research and innovation, the group’s objective is to drive knowledge creation to translatable outcomes focussed on the development of cellular and molecular-based diagnostics and therapeutics in the treatment of mucosal pathologies associated with chronic inflammation and tumour development.

The Research Group’s expertise covers five key themes, aligned to MuM sub-groups:

Oral-Dental modelling (3D-OMM)
Development of immune-competent 3D oral mucosal model investigating host-pathogen interactions and pathological mechanisms of periodontal disease and oral cancer. 
Professor Simon Whawell, Dr Vehid Salih, Dr Andrew Foey, Dr Charlotte Illsley, Dr Ness Avery, Dr Philip Warburton, Dr Laure Ries, Dr Alex Cresswell-Boyes, and Sian Crow

Gut mucosal modelling (GuMM)
Development of immune-competent gut mucosal model investigating host-pathogen interactions involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC).
Dr Andrew Foey, Dr Lee Hutt, Dr Nathaniel Clark, Dr Ness Avery, Dr Philip Warburton, Dr Tracey Madgett, Samantha Robins, and Ruby Beardshall.

Lung mucosal modelling (LuMM)
Modelling alveolar macrophage responses to respiratory pathogens and mucosal cell-to-cell interactions/drug repurposing in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Dr Gyorgy Fejer, Dr Shagin Khera, Dr Vikram Sharma, and Arran Brooks.

Fish/crustacean mucosal research (FiCM)
Modulation of mucosal immunity and general health/nutrition parameters in teleost fish and crustaceans by pre-, pro- and post-biotics.
Dr Mark Rawling, Professor Daniel Merrifield, Dr Andrew Foey, and Yun-Tzu Huang.

Haematooncology research
Modulation of cancer mechanisms associated with prostate and breast cancer and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) by plant-derived metabolites.
Dr Simon Fox and Dr Lynn McCallum.

Dr Alex Strachan Manager of the Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre, also works within the group, providing electron microscopy support. 

Recruitment & Applications:

Our group welcomes all interest in our research and post-graduate research opportunities. Applications for fully funded PhD studentships should be made by following instructions indicated in advertisements in PhD websites. We also welcome speculative applications for PhD/ResM; please note that prospective students are required to self-fund ResM studentships and to identify and engage with research supervisors to formulate a research project suitable for submission by the formal application process.