Overview

My Office hours are:

I am a member of the Microbes and Disease research theme.

Qualifications

2006-2007 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Exeter
1995 PhD Biological Sciences, University of Bath
1991 BSc (Hons) Applied Biology, University of Bath

Career

2015 - present Director of Education (Biosciences)

2006-2015 Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter

2004-2006 Independent Research Fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen

2000-2003 Lloyds Tercentenary Foundation Fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen

1998-2000 Research Fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen

1996-1998 Research Fellow, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge

1995-1996 Scientist, Pfizer, Sandwich, Kent

Research group links

• Microbial Evolutionary Ecology

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Research

Research interests

The main focus of work in my lab is to further our understanding of stress and programmed cell death responses exhibited by fungi (in particular Candida albicans). This is important since fungal diseases of man have assumed great significance due to changes in the demographic status of the human population, changes in the management practices for chronic health conditions, and the increased use of immunocompromising agents in medicine. Due to similarities in the basic cellular organization of pathogenic fungi and their animal hosts, the control of such diseases poses considerable problems for clinicians. New strategies must therefore be implemented to assist in the identification of novel antifungal agents. We are therefore aiming to (i) identify and characterize the different types of cell death response (apoptotic, autophagic and necrotic) shown by fungi under different conditions, (ii) highlight the key differences between the cell death and stress responses of mammals and fungi, and (iii) identify regulators core to the fungal cell death response using a combination of traditional genetics and genomics based technologies.

Research networks

• Professor Alistair Brown, University of Aberdeen, Proteomic analysis of PCD
• Dr Concha Gil and Virginia Cabezon, University of Madrid, Cell death responses of C. albicans.
• Dr Manuela Corte Real and Dr Bjorn Johansson, University of Braga, Transcriptonal response of S. cerevisiae during weak acid killing.

Research grants

• 2013 British Mycological Society
  Origins of genetic variation during gametogenesis in N. crassa
• 2012 NIH
  Communication between Candida albicans and oral bacteria.
• 2012 Woodland Trust
  Funding for forestry project at Alice Holt
• 2011 The Genetics Society
  Differential allele expression in Candida albicans.
• 2011 Society for General Microbiology
  Allelic expression patterns in virulence genes of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.
• 2010 Royal Society
  Real-time imaging of cellular signals using codon-optimised cameleon variant s in the pathogenic fungus Candida albican
• 2009 British Mycological Society
  Intracellular calcium dynamics during death of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans
• 2009 Nuffield Foundation Undergraduate Research Bursary
  Role of AIF1 in the programmed cell death response of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans.
• 2009 Society for General Microbiology
  Role of autophagy in the programmed cell death response of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.
• 2008 The Nuffield Foundation
  Cloning a transgenic calcium biosensor for expression in the human pathogen Candida albicans.
• 2008 Union Lifesciences
  Union Life Sciences funded project on human fungal pathogen
• 2007 Wellcome Trust
  Role of the MSN2 transcription factor in the stress and death responses of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans
• 2007 British Mycological Society
  GFP and FLAG tagging of the Candida albicans Msn2
• 2007 BBSRC-COGEME
  Metacaspase substrate identification in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. BBSRC-COGEME User Fund
• 2004 BBSRC
  Integrated Proteome and transcriptome analysis of programmed cell death in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans
• 2002 SHERT
  Dissecting the cell death machinery of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans in a search for novel antifungal therapies
• 2001 MRC
  Study of the role of the Ras-cAMP signalling pathway in the cell death response of Candida albicans, MRC Studentship

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Publications

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External Engagement and Impact

Committee/panel activities

Fungal Biology Research Committee - 2009-2014

Editorial responsibilities

Molecular Microbiology, Advisory Board, 2007-present

• Editor for PLoS ONE (2010-present)
  

Manuscripts in period 2008-2013 reviewed for  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Eukaryotic Cell, PloS pathogens, Fungal Biology, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, New Phytologist, Ecology and PLoS Biology, Molecular Microbiology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Medical Mycology Editor, Mycological Research, 2004-present

Invited lectures

British Council Representative -  Bangalore & Chennai 2013 “UK Biotechnology”

Programmed cell death in yeast “St Xaviers College, Mumbai 2013

·       Invited Speaker University of Ireland, Maynooth “Stress and death in Candida albicans” (February 2011).

·       Invited speaker at British Society for Medical Mycology “Differential allele expression in Candida albicans” (April 2010).

·       Session chair and speaker at “PCD and Autophagy” session at International Mycological Congress, IMC9 Edinburgh (August 2010).

·       Invited speaker at IMC9 “RNA-SEQuencing in Candida albicans” (August 2010).

BSMM (2001), London.Sphingolipid signalling and cell death in Candida.

YGMB (2001), Prague.Ras-cAMP and sphingolipid signalling in the cell death response of yeasts.

Transkingdom Cell Death Meeting (2002), Roscoff.Cell death in Candida and Saccharomyces: responses, pathways and effectors.

1st International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis. (2002). Braga.Sphingolipid and Ras-mediated cell death signals in Candida albicans.

YGMB (2003) Goteborg.Programmed cell death in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans.

2nd International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis. (2003). Bratislava.Dissecting the molecular machinery responsible for Programmed cell death in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans.

ASM Candida and Candidiasis (2004). Austin, Texas. Invited speakerIntegrated proteome and transcriptome analysis of stress and programmed cell death responses in Candida albicans.

3rd International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis (2004).Role of Ras in death decision of the human pathogen, Candida albicans.

BBSRC (2005). Manchester. Invited SpeakerGenomics of cell death in Candida albicans.

EU Advanced Course on Apoptosis in Fungi (2005). Univ Minho, Braga. Invited Speaker –Exploitation of programmed cell death in the fight against fungal diseases.

ESF-EMBO Symposium. Comparative Genomics of Eukaryotic Microorganisms (2005). San Feliu de Guixols. Invited Speaker.Global views of apoptosis in Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae: combined proteome and transcript profiling data.

British Yeast Group Meeting / BSMM (2005). Canterbury. Keynote Speaker.Cell death in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.

Molecular Mycology Tenth Anniversary Meeting. (2006)Woods Hole, Invited Speaker. Programmed cell death and stress responses in the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans.

School of Biosciences, University of Kent. (2007). Invited Speaker. Post Traumatic Stress and Cell Death in Candida albicans.

ASM Fungal Genetics Meeting, Asilomar (2007). Invited Speaker.Stress and death esponses in the fungal pathogens Candida albicans.

ASM Candida and Candidiasis (2008) New York. Invited Speaker. Functional analysis of the programmed cell death response of Candida albicans.

Gene Expression and Cell Signalling Seminars, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester (2008). Stress and death in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.

Media Coverage

$2 million for oral disease study

Dental News 19 March 2012

Sarawak News - STEM in Malaysia (June 2012).

Research funding

·       Jenkins (PI), Lamont (PI), Kadioglu (coPI), Ramsdale (CoPI). Barbour (Co-PI), Jepson (CoPI), Communication between Candida albicans and oral bacteria. Top Ranked Grant in Round. Funded March 2012-2017 (£1.34 million/2012-2017)

·       Ramsdale, Partridge, Denman – Woodland Trust Forest Research Placement (£13,529 / 2012-2013)

·       Royal Society Ramsdale (PI) 01/10/10-30/06/11 (£13,250).

Real-time imaging of cellular signals using codon-optimised cameleon variant s in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans.

The aim of this project is to develop new tools for imaging of intracellular signals (calcium, cAMP, MAPK and ROS) in Candida albicans using cameleon biosensors.

·  

·       Exeter University Strategic Fund. Ramsdale (PI) 01/04/09-30/09/09

Illumina RNA-SEQuencing in C. albicans (£3,579).

The aim of this project was to provide proof of principle data regarding the expression of virulence genes in C. albicans during planktonic growth in C. albicans.

·       British Mycological Society. Ramsdale (PI) 07/07/09-07/10/09 (£2,100).

Intracellular calcium dynamics during death of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.

The aim of this project was to develop a transgenic cameleon biosensor for use in Candida albicans.

·       British Mycological Society. Ramsdale (PI) 07/07/13-07/10/13 (£2,250).

Origins of genetic variation during gametogenesis in N. crassa

The aim of this project is to assess the origins of genetic variation during meiosis.

Workshops/Conferences organised

Main organizer of British Mycological Society Scientific Meeting "Fungal Development and Pathogeneis" - University of Exeter (2011)

·       Scientific advisory board member “International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis” (May 2011).

·       Scientific advisory board member “International Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis” (May 2011).

Scientifc Programme organizer - British Mycological Society annual meeting “Fungi and Environmental Change - Cardiff University (2013)

Scientifc Programme organizer - British Mycological Society annual meeting “Fungi and Environmental Change - Cardiff University (2013)

Workshop organizer and co-chair Society for General Microbiology, Nottingham “Microbial Cell death” (September 2010).

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Teaching

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Programme Director - BIological Sciences with Professional Placement, Biochemistry with Industrial Experience, Biological & Medicinal Chemistry with Industrial Experience

Module coordinator - BIO1333 Fundamental Skills for Bioscientists, BIO1339 Cells, BIO2071 Research Skills and Bioethics, BIO3087 Professional Placement Scientific Report, BIO3088 Learning from Professional Placement;

I am keen to ensure that students are able to experience a wide range of activities and biological disciplines early on in their careers. My underlying aim when teaching is always to encourage students to adopt a more questioning attitude to the world around them. Taught modules include:

Year 1

BIO1333 Fundamental Principles for Bioscientists
BIO1334 Genetics
BIO1335 Cell Biology
BIO1337 Microbiology

Year 2

BIO2071 Research Skills and Bioethics
BIO2096 Molecular Microbiology

Year 3
BIO3087 Industrial Placement and Report
BIO3088 Learning from Industrial Experience
BIO3086 Cellular Basis of Disease
BIO3079 Molecular Basis of Infection

Masters

BIOM503 Essentials of Molecular Biology

Modules

2023/24

• BIO1333 - Fundamental Principles for Bioscientists
• BIO1339 - Cells
• BIOM536 - Project 1 - Medical Mycology
• BIOM537 - Project 2 - Fungal Immunology
• BIOM538 - Extended Medical Mycology Project
• BIOM700Z - The Principles of Medical Mycology
• BIOM710Z - Research Methodology and Grant Proposal
• BIOM711Z - Research Project

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Supervision / Group

Postdoctoral researchers

Postgraduate researchers

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