Marcus Velissarides

My PhD investigates whether micro- and nanoplastics can contribute to liver inflammation and damage by acting as carriers for microbes. While most toxicology studies use pristine plastic particles, real-world plastics are rapidly colonised by microorganisms, forming biofilm-coated micro- and nanoplastics known as Bio-MNPs. This may be particularly important in liver disease, where gut barrier dysfunction can allow microbes to move from the gut to the liver.

The project will develop reproducible methods to generate and characterise environmentally and biologically relevant Bio-MNPs, using approaches including cryomilling of plastics, microbial quantification, and imaging techniques such as confocal and electron microscopy. These Bio-MNPs will then be tested in human liver and liver-immune models to assess whether, and to what extent, biofilm-bearing plastics promote inflammatory responses compared with pristine plastics.

By combining environmental science, microbiology and hepatology, this research aims to improve understanding of how plastic pollution may interact with microbial exposure to exacerbate liver inflammation and compromise human liver health.