The Read Group

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PhD students

  • Katie Atkins (2006-2009). Thesis: Evolution and Epidemiology of Marek's Disease. Now a post-doc at Yale University with Alison Galvani.
  • Silvie Huijben (2006-2010). Thesis: The evolution of drug-resistance in malaria parasites. Now a CIDD post-doc at Penn State University with Andrew Read.
  • Vicki Barclay (2004- 2008; Wellcome Trust studentship). Thesis: Parasite evolution in response to blood stage candidate malaria vaccine. Now a CIDD post-doc at Penn State University with Andrew Read.
  • Gráinne Long (2003-2006; Wellcome Trust studentship). Thesis: Immunopathology and virulence evolution in rodent malaria. Post-doc with Andrea Graham, Institutes of Evolutionary Biology & Immunology and Infection Research at the University of Edinburgh. (Jan 1, 2008- April, 2009) CIDD post-doc at Penn State University with Pete Hudson & Eric Harvell on Bordetella. From April 2009, post-doc with Mike Boots, University of Sheffield, UK.
  • Katrina Grech (2003-2006). Thesis: The Ecology and Evolution of Malaria: Laboratory Studies of Plasmodium chabaudi and its rodent and insect hosts. Research scientist at Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh. From July 2008 Research officer, Drug Modelling Program, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
  • Andrew Wargo (2003-2006; Wellcome Trust studentship). Thesis: In-Host Ecology and Transmission Dynamics of Malaria Parasites. Currently a post-doc at Dept. of Pathobiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Jaap de Roode (2001-2004; Darwin Trust Scholarship). Thesis: Within-Host Competition and the Evolution of Malaria Parasites. Winner, Ker Memorial Prize, best PhD thesis for preceding year, Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh. Marie Curie Fellow, University of Georgia, Athens. Now tenure-track faculty, University of Emory, Atlanta.
  • Meghan Guinnee (nee Gannon) (2001-2004; NSF & ORS studentships). Thesis: Plasticity in Reproductive Traits. Post-doc doing research at Buffalo State College with Amy McMillan and developing a program to educate the public about genetics at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Now co-runs Catalyst Research, LLC doing data analysis/research design for human service organizations.
  • Lucy Crooks (1997-2004; MRC studentship). Thesis: Gametocyte Investment in Malaria. Post-doc with Sebastian Bonhoeffer at ETH Zurich. From 2008, post-doc, Department Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish Unit of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Sarah Reece (2000-2003; NERC studentship). Thesis: Evolution and Ecology of Sex Allocation. Lectureship at University of Stirling (2003-2004). From Jan 2005, NERC Fellow, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh. From 2007, Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, University Of Edinburgh.
  • Heather Ferguson (1999-2002; Science Faculty Scholarship & ORS). Thesis: The Ecology and Evolutionary Implications of Malaria Parasite Virulence in Mosquito Vectors. Now a research scientist at Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre, Ifakara, Tanzania and a BBSRC David Phillips Fellow at the University of Glasgow.
  • Rebecca Timms (1997-2001; BBSRC studentship). Thesis: The Ecology and Evolution of Virulence in Mixed Infections of Malaria Parasites. Currently getting very rich in Corporate Finance, Bank of Scotland.
  • Katrina Lythgoe (1996-1999; BBSRC studentship). Thesis: Genetic Variation in Structured Populations: Space, Time and the Red Queen. Moved on a Wellcome Travelling Fellowship to Dept. Biology, UC San Diego; MSc in Science Communication (2003). Now Editor, Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
  • Alan Gemmill (1995-1999; NERC studentship). Thesis: Experimental and Comparative Analyses of the Evolutionary Ecology of Parasitic Nematodes. Currently a Senior Research Officer, Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre, University of Melbourne.
  • Angus Buckling (1995-1998; MRC studentship). Thesis: Ecological and Evolutionary Effects of Intervention Strategies on the Transmission of Malaria Parasites. Currently a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer, Oxford University.
  • Louise Taylor (1993-1997; MRC studentship). Thesis: Epidemiological and Evolutionary Consequences of Mixed-Genotype Infections of Malaria Parasites. Post-doc and then Wellcome Research Fellowship to Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh. Lab Manager, Institute of Stem Cell Research , University of Edinburgh. Now a mum in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
  • Per Arneberg (1993-1996; research assistantship, University of Tromsø, Norway). Thesis: Commoness and Rarity Among Mammalian Nematodes. A Comparative Study of Parasite Abundance. Moved to a Norwegian Research Council Fellow, Tromsø University; currently a Research Administrator, Tromsø University.
  • Stephanie Schrag (1989-1993; Marshall Scholarship, Oxford). Thesis: Factors influencing selfing and outcrossing rates in the freshwater snail, Bulinus truncatus. Moved to a Post-doc at Emory University, Atlanta; currently a Research Fellow, Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta.

Post-docs and Fellows

  • Petra Schneider (2005-2007). BBSRC post-doc with Sarah Reece, Institutes of Evolutionary Biology & Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh. Now a CEEID fellow, University of Edinburgh.
  • Simmi Mahajan (2005-2007). Now a joint post-doc with Judi Allen and Andrea Graham, Institutes of Evolutionary Biology & Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh.
  • Damien Drew (2005-2007). Now at WEHI, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Lars Råberg (2004-2005). Marie Curie fellowship and post-doc funded by the Swedish Research Council. Now Assistant Professor and Swedish Research Council Fellow, University of Lund.
  • Sue Mitchell (2001-2004). NERC PDRA. Now Director, Spot-on Data Solutions.
  • Andrea Graham (2002-2004). Wellcome Trust PDRA. Leverhulme Fellow, University of Edinburgh (2004-2006). From October 2006, BBSRC David Phillips Fellow, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh. From 2009, tenure track, Princeton University, NJ, USA.
  • Katrina Lythgoe (2001-2002). Wellcome Trust Travelling Fellowship. MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College (2003). Now Editor, Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
  • Sylvain Gandon (2001- 2002). Wellcome Trust Biomathematics Fellowship. Now CNRS Fellow, Montpellier.
  • Tom Little (2000- 2002). NSERC (Canada), Wellcome Trust Showcase grant. Now a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh.
  • Claus Wedekind (2000-2002), Swiss Marie Curie Fellowship. Currently at Université de Lausanne Switzerland.
  • Marg Mackinnon (1998-2000). Leverhulme PDRA. Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow, ICAPB. Currently a Research Fellow, KEMRI.
  • Ana Rivero (1999-2000) BBSRC-funded PDRA, Edinburgh; PDRA, Montpellier; Ramón y Cajal Fellow,CSIC - Natural History Museum, Madrid, Spain. Currently CNRS Fellow, Montpellier.
  • Stu West (1997-1999) BBSRC grant. Subsequently a BBSRC Sir David Phillips Fellow, ICAPB; Royal Society University Research Fellow, IEB, University of Edinburgh; Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh (2005-2008). Currently Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of Oxford.

Research Assistants

  • Kathryn Watt (2001-2003). Left to study a herbal medicine degree at Napier University. Graduated with a first class degree and is now a professional herbalist.

Project Students (from 2003)

  • Morven Carruthers, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2003) Project: The effects of the fungal entomopathogen, Beauveria bassiana, on the mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, and its capacity as a vector of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi.
  • James Humble, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2003) Project: Host pathogen interactions between mosquitoes and entomopathogenic fungi.
  • Riccardo Pansini, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2003) Project: Social evolution of malaria parasites; the nature of in-host competition.
  • Nadine Randle, M.Sc. by Research in the Life Sciences, U. Ed. (2003) Project: Molecular detection and quantification of Plasmodium chabaudi gametocytes: A tool for in-depth analysis of parasite biology.
  • Michelle Helinski, M.Sc. in Medical Entomology & Evolutionary Biology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands [2001-2004]. U. Ed (2003) Project: Super- and co-infection in a rodent malaria model; within-host competition between virulent and avirulent parasites.
  • Liam Aye Maung, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2004) Project: "Maternal effects in Anopheles stephensi".
  • Lynn Fitzpatrick, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2004) Project: "Malarial transmission in co-infected BALB/c mice".
  • Arantxa San-Sebastian, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2004) Project:"Thermal biology of fungal-mosquito interactions"
  • Ruth Turner, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2004) Project: "Efficacy of fungal control of malaria-infected mosquitoes"
  • Lisa Macleod, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2004) Project: "Spatial cogntion in mosquitoes"
  • Silvie Huijben, M.Sc Zoology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands [2003-2005]. U.Ed. (2004/5) Project: "The role of drug treatment, in response to clinical signs, on within-host competition and relative transmission of malaria parasites."
  • Hugh Sturrock, Zoology Honours, U. Ed.(2005) Project: "Fungal infection as a means to reduce malaria transmission"
  • Matt Wood, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2005) Project: " Does the malaria parasite make the host more attractive to mosquitoes?"
  • Carina Crawford, Zoology Honours, U. Ed. (2005) Project: "Does the malarial parasite subvert the host immune response?"
  • Tom Black, Zoology Honours, U.Ed. (2006) Project: "Will the efficacy of fungal biopesticide control of malaria be affected by mosquito quality?"
  • Adam Saddler, Zoology Honours, U.Ed. (2006) Project: "Is Fungal Biopesticide Decay In Situ Equivalent to Lower Dose Exposures in Controlling Malaria?"
  • James Shepherd, Zoology Honours, U.Ed. (2006) Project: "Can we harness in host ecology to slow the spread of drug-resistant malaria?"
  • Rita Reyburn, Evolutionary Biology Honours, U.Ed. (2006) Project: "Drug resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes"