SULSA’s driving force is the SULSA Executive Committee, which is made up of senior representatives from its ten member universities. The Executive Committee meets at least four times a year, and is chaired by the Director of SULSA: Professor Mike Barrett of the University of Glasgow.
The day to day running of SULSA is carried out by the Management Team. SULSA’s Management Team and Executive committee are supported by a number of theme specific committees.
Director: Professor Mike Barrett
Specialist in Biochemical Parasitology
Mike Barrett is Director of SULSA and Glasgow Polyomics, and a Professor in Biochemical Parasitology in the Institute of Infection, Inflammation and Immunity at the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow. He is also a member of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology in Glasgow. Mike obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 1990 and completed postdoctoral fellowships in Cambridge, Bordeaux (France) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before joining the University of Glasgow in 1994.
Research in Drug Development and Drug Resistance
Mike’s personal research interests revolve around how drugs work against parasitic protozoa and how resistance to drugs occurs. It was as part of his programme to address such questions that, in 2009, he founded the Scottish Metabolomics facility with a grant from SULSA. That facility subsequently became a key part of Glasgow Polyomics, which was launched in 2011 with investment from the University of Glasgow and the Wellcome Trust. Polyomics approaches to understanding the biochemical physiology of parasites is central to Mike’s current research programme, and research in this area is being turned towards the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools. He currently holds grants from the Medical Research Council, BBSRC, the Royal Society, the Wellcome Trust, GALVmed, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK, and the Scottish Executive Health Department to pursue different aspects of these research interests.
Promoting Technical Programmes for World Health
Mike is Chairman of the Kinetoplastids Drug Efficacy working group at the World Health Organisation; a member of the WHO’s expert committee into human African trypanosomiasis and also of the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) reference group on Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis (DRG3). He is on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Scottish charity “Developing World Health”, the French “Parafrap” Laboratories of Excellence Parasitology Research programme, and the Swiss Sinergia (“Transporters of Trypanosoma brucei: Physiology, Pharmacology”) project. He sits on the editorial board of Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology and the International Journal of Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance.
Follow Mike on Twitter @Barrett_Lab
Deputy Director: Professor Frank Gunn-Moore
Frank Gunn-Moore is the Director of Research of the School of Biology at The University of St Andrews. Frank completed his PhD at The University of Cambridge, and followed this with postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Bristol and Edinburgh before moving to St Andrews.
His research focuses on uncovering how proteins that are involved in the formation and development of the mammalian nervous system and how they are affected in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Cancer. In particular, the consequences of mitochondrial beta-amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease and the role of Willin/FRMD6 in the activation of the Hippo signalling pathway. In addition, in a major collaboration between the Schools of Physics, Biology and Medicine, Frank’s lab are investigating how light can influence and manipulate both cellular and sub-cellular biological materials.
As well as being the Deputy Director of SULSA, Frank is an executive member of the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium, the Biophotonics theme for the Stanford University/Caltech: Scottish Partnership (SU2P), and the Alzheimer’s Research UK network for Scotland.
Frank currently holds grants from the EPSRC, Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Scotland, RS MacDonald Charitable Trust and the Rosetrees Trust.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FGunnMoore
Executive Director: Dr. Allison Jackson
Allison completed her PhD at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research (WEHI, Melbourne, Australia). In 2009 after two fantastic years working as an EMBO postdoctoral fellow at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Allison came to the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology (WTCMP) at the University of Glasgow.
In early 2015 Allison took over the management of the Glasgow Polyomics facility and administration of Glasgow University’s Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF). Allison was appointed as the SULSA Executive Director in late 2016.
Allison.Jackson@Glasgow.ac.uk
Follow Allison on Twitter @allijjackson
Operations Officer: Jill Inkster
Coming from a background in Marketing and International Recruitment, Jill is the SULSA Operations Officer based at the University of Glasgow. Working alongside the Executive Director, Jill oversees SULSA’s funding awards, researcher development programme, event planning, marketing, web design and the general running of SULSA, and should be the first point of contact for all SULSA related enquiries.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee reports to the Principals of the partner universities and has responsibility for successfully delivering the goals of SULSA. The Committee sets the strategic framework (agreed by each of the Universities), oversees the scientific direction, develops strategy, ensures the implementation of SULSA’s objectives and establishes membership criteria for SULSA.
Executive Committee Members:
Professor Mike Barrett – Director and University of Glasgow
Email: michael.barrett@glasgow.ac.uk
Professor Frank Gunn-Moore – Deputy Director and University of St Andrews
Email: fjg1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Professor Peter McCaffery – University of Aberdeen
Email: p.j.mccaffery@abdn.ac.uk
Professor Tom Owen-Hughes – University of Dundee
Email: t.a.owenhughes@dundee.ac.uk
Professor David Gray – University of Edinburgh
Email: d.gray@ed.ac.uk
Professor Andrew Millar – University of Edinburgh
E-mail: SBS.ResearchDirector@ed.ac.uk
Professor Graeme Milligan – University of Glasgow
Email: graeme.milligan@glasgow.ac.uk
Professor Nigel Pyne – University of Strathclyde
Email: n.j.pyne@strath.ac.uk
Associate Members:
Professor Rory Duncan – Heriot-Watt University
Email: r.r.duncan@hw.ac.uk
Dr Peter Barlow – Edinburgh Napier University
Email: P.Barlow@napier.ac.uk
Professor Linda Lawton – Robert Gordon University
Email: l.lawton@rgu.ac.uk