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Research project

Bioengineering to combat the tuberculosis pandemic

Project overview

We will combine engineering and biological approaches to investigate the host-pathogen interaction and identify new therapeutic targets.

Staff

Lead researcher

Professor Paul Elkington

Director of Inst. for Medical Innovation

Research interests

  • tuberculosis
  • immunopathology
  • diagnosis
Other researchers

Professor Xunli Zhang PhD, DIC, FRSC, CChem, CEng

Head of Department-Chemical Engineerg

Research interests

  • Xunli’s key expertise lies in the area of microfluidics technology from design and fabrication of microfluidic devices, through the development of in-situ monitoring methods for bio/chemical processes, to microfluidic modelling, microsystems integration and automation. The application is largely associated with biomedical challenges like patient specific design of microfluidic devices for cancer treatment, rapid diagnosis, and tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The continuous flow reactors have been used for the synthesis of a range of nanoparticles, both organic and inorganic, for application in drug delivery and energy saving. The technologies developed in his research have also found great potential for industrial applications through a variety of industrial collaborations. 

Research outputs

Elevated plasma matrix metalloproteinase-8 associates with sputum culture positivity in pulmonary tuberculosis
NF Walker,
F Karim,
MY Moosa,
S Moodley,
M Mazibuko,
K Khan,
TR Sterling,
YF van der Heijden,
AD Grant,
Paul Elkington,
A Pym,
& A Leslie
, 2022 , The Journal of Infectious Diseases , 226 (5) , 928--932
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac160
Type: article
Mycobacterium tuberculosis senses host Interferon-γ via the membrane protein MmpL10
Mohamed Ahmed,
Jared Mackenzie,
Liku Bekele Tezera,
Robert Krause,
Barry Truebody,
Diana Garay Baquero,
Andres Vallejo Pulido,
Katya Govender,
John Adamson,
Hayden Fisher,
Jonathan W. Essex,
Salah Mansour,
Paul Elkington,
Adrie J. C. Steyn,
& Alasdair Leslie
, 2022 , Communications Biology , 5 (1317)
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04265-0
Type: article
Mycobacterium tuberculosis senses host Interferon-gamma via the membrane protein MmpL10
Mohamed Ahmed,
Jared Mackenzie,
Robert Krause,
Barry Truebody,
Liku Bekele Tezera,
Diana Garay Baquero,
Andres F. Vallejo,
Katya Govender,
John Adamson,
Paul Elkington,
Hayden Fisher,
Jonathan W. Essex,
Salah Mansour,
Adrie Steyn,
& Alasdair Leslie
, 2022 , Communications Biology
DOI: 10.1101/2021.11.12.468344
Type: article
Infections due to Dysregulated Immunity: An emerging complication of Cancer Immunotherapy
Tommaso Morelli,
Kohei Fujita,
Gil Redelman-Sidi,
& Paul Elkington
, 2021 , Thorax
DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-217260
Type: article
Understanding the Tuberculosis granuloma: the Matrix revolutions
Paul Elkington,
Marta Polak,
MT Reichmann,
& Alasdair Leslie
, 2021 , Trends in Molecular Medicine , 28 (2) , 143--154
DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.11.004
Type: review
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