Gut Biology and Medical Microbiology

Gastroenterology research focuses on intestinal and liver inflammation and the interaction of the gut microbiome, intestinal epithelial and liver cells and mucosal immune system.

There is also a strong interest in clinical studies addressing the pathogenesis and treatment of oesophageal and pancreatic cancer, of sclerosing cholangitis, and of intestinal failure. Studies range from disease models and in vitro interventions to clinical trials and large-scale epidemiological studies.

Gastroenterology has close links with the BBSRC-funded Quadram Institute Bioscience, the Earlham Institute and the EPIC (The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) prospective study. Clinical staff have joint appointments with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital which facilitates patient recruitment and encourages productive interactions with gastrointestinal surgeons and other clinical teams. There are also numerous collaborative projects involving other researchers within the Medical School and more widely in UEA.

We have a solid reputation for acquisition of research grants and the training and supervision of postgraduate research students. Research from our group is published in the discipline’s top-ranking journals, and important contributions are regularly made to national and international guidelines. We cover a wide range of research areas including:

• Inflammatory bowel disease: pathogenesis and treatment (Biancheri, Brooks, Carding, Chan, Divekar, Forbes, Hart, Muller, Tremelling, Watson)
• Enteric infection: prevention and treatment (Carding, Divekar, Powell, Schuller, Tyler, Watson, Wileman)
• The aetiology and treatment of oesophageal and pancreatic cancer (Alexandre, Hart)
• Inflammation of the liver (Muller, Rushbrook)
• Intestinal epithelial cell death (Divekar, Watson)
• Microbial host interactions in the gut (Carding, Divekar, Schüller, Tyler, Watson)
• Autophagy (Powell, Wileman)
• Sclerosing cholangitis (Rushbrook)
• Intestinal failure (Forbes, Ruby)
• Dietary and life-style risk factors for gastrointestinal disease (Alexandre, Forbes, Hart, Muller)
• Surgical gastroenterology (Hernon, Stearn)
• Antibiotic resistance (Evans, Livermore
• Antibiotic discovery (Evans, McArthur, Steverding)
• Structural biology of microbial proteins (Dong).