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Prof Stephen Denyer  -  BSc PhD FRPharmS


 

Member of the School's  Drug Delivery & Microbiology Research Discipline  

 

Research interests 

A brief description of areas of research interest is given below.  Although now a little dated, an expansion of these themes can be found in the 2002 British Pharmaceutical Conference Science Chairman's Address published in the Pharmaceutical Journal, Volume 269, 28th September 2002, pp451-454 and at http://www.pharmj.com/pdf/conferences/pj_20020928_bpcscience.pdf

 

  • Microbial pathogenicity          Bacteria adapt to their host environment elaborating protection mechanisms and virulence factors.  This phenotypic change is essential to their infectivity and can be modelled in in vivo reflective in vitro models.

 

  • Rapid methods of microbial detection       Both detection of contamination and diagnosis of infection rely upon early identification of the challenge organism.  This is particularly difficult in the case of slow growing or poorly culturable bacteria.  Rapid detection methods rely upon exploiting molecular biology techniques or the biochemical processes of the target organism.

 

  • Biomaterials and biocompatibility     Medical devices and implants are required to demonstrate compatibility with their host biological tissue.  This requires specific attention to surface interactions to minimise adverse biological reactions.

 

  • Medical devices and microbial infection     Microbial infection is a frequent consequence of catheterisation and device implantation.  Such infections are often intractable as a consequence of biofilm growth on the implanted device.  Antiadherent or antimicrobial surfaces can be developed to minimise this hazard.

 

  • Mechanisms of action of biocidal agents    Biocides employed in disinfection, sterilization and preservation are essential adjuncts to antibiotic measures for controlling infectious hazards.  Mechanisms of action are ill-defined restricting new compound design and concealing possible risks of cross-resistance with antibiotic agents.

 

Specific current projects include: