Research – Page 5 – Barrett Centre for Helminth Control

Christmas trees aid the fight against Fasciolisis and Schistosomiasis

Scientists from Aberystwyth University, Ridgeway Research Ltd. and Phytoquest Ltd. have contributed to research that identifies a novel chemical compound from the bark of Noble fir trees and demonstrates that this compound has anthelmintic activity against two evolutionary related parasite species, the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica and the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Fasciolosis (caused by…

BCHC student wins award for PhD presentation at the 5th Annual Scientific Drug Discovery Congress

Aberystwyth PhD student, David Cutress, has won one of two awards presented on the first day of the Annual Scientific Drug Discovery Congress held in Cardiff earlier this month. His talk, entitled ‘Towards validation of an immune suppressor protein from liver fluke as a drug target’, detailed the advances he has made to date in trying…

BCHC strengthens links in India

The BCHC has been delighted to welcome Dr P. A. Ahammed Shareef from the Department of Zoology at PMSO College, Kerala, India as a visiting Fellow during April and May. Shareef has previously visited Aberystwyth in 2013 as part of a BBSRC funded research project tackling Fasciolaisis in the UK and India working with both…

Aberystwyth University hosts British Society for Parasitology Spring meeting

This April, Aberystwyth University hosted the British Society for Parasitology spring meeting. The meeting was last hosted by Aberystwyth over 30 years ago. 432 delegates travelled from as far away as New Zealand and Australia to present their work at this prestigious event. All 13 members of the Parasitology and Epidemiology Research Group here at…

There’s gold on them there vesicles!

As part of the BCHC’s focus on extra-cellular vesicles (EV) in helminthology we recently hosted a visit from Allan Cameron, a 4th year PhD student from the Devitt Laboratory, Aston University. Allan is researching the role of apoptotic cell derived extracellular vesicles (ACdEV) on the immune system. He visited Aberystwyth University to utilise the expertise…

Aberystwyth student has letter published in Veterinary Record

Fiona Tyson a PhD student at Aberystwyth University has published a letter in Veterinary Record detailing recent outreach work conducted by herself and others at this years’ Royal Welsh Agricultural Show. As part of a collaboration between Aberystwyth University and Techion UK, faecal egg counts (FEC) were performed on horses attending this years’ show using…

Snail’s DNA secrets unlocked in fight against river disease

Scientists at Aberystwyth University have contributed to international efforts to characterise the genome of a snail species responsible for passing on a parasite that kills 200,000 people every year. Researchers at the University’s Barrett Centre for Helminth Control (BCHC) at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences have been studying the snail Biomphalaria glabrata…

Exposing the link between helminth infection and TB-susceptibility

What an exciting month for immunology research! May 2017 saw the BCHC hosting a very-interesting one-week visit by Dr Stephen Cose, Senior Immunologist from the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS. As part of his permanent secondment from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Dr Steve Cose is Senior Immunologist to the MRC…

Dundee Researchers visit Aberystwyth University to plan new project on Anti-schistosomals

A new collaborative project is underway to drive the development of anti-schistosomals. The Wellcome Trust has funded Dundee and Aberystwyth Universities in this joint venture which began with a very productive visit by Dundees researchers to the IBERS laboratories. Schistosomiasis has affected almost 210 million people worldwide and is spread by contact with fresh water contaminated with…

Category: Research (page 5)