Research group

BiOmics

Bar coded DNA sample

Technological advances have allowed scientists to gather large amounts of data about a vast array of species, organisms and single cells. Our researchers are using mathematical modelling, machine learning and other algorithms to extract information and patterns from large data sets to further our understanding of disease.

About

Contemporary scientific research benefits from rapid technological developments that enable the characterisation and quantification of biological molecules at unprecedented scale. Scientists can generate vast data that provide insight into the complex interplay of molecules within organisms. Interrogation and interpretation of these data inform the structure, function and interaction of molecules over time. 

We use ‘Omic technologies comprehensively to evaluate DNA (genomics), RNA (transcriptomics) and proteins (proteomics). We study small molecules using metabolomics. Microorganisms are investigated in a targeted manner using microbiomics or more broadly to characterise mixed samples using metagenomics.

At the University of Southampton, we generate vast datasets using these approaches across a wide range of environments and species. We work closely with NHS partners to use these capabilities to understand human disease and inform its clinical management. We bring together medical and biological scientists with mathematicians, computer and data scientists to develop and apply methods that exploit these data to their fullest potential.

From analysing patient genomes, to carrying out metagenomic analysis of water samples to using mass spectrometry metabolic profiling techniques, our scientists are studying the unique processes that take place within cells that can lead to disease or poor health outcomes in humans and help track changes in the environment.   

We are using data to answer clinical questions in areas such as cancer, autoimmune and respiratory diseases with the help of clinical colleagues we are translating our findings into novel techniques for clinicians to treat their patients, make predictions about prognosis and drug responsiveness.

Our researchers collaborate with partners at:

People, projects and publications

People

Professor Ivan Haigh

Professor

Research interests

  • I currently have 8 active research grants (4 as principle investigator (PI)) worth £4.8M. 
  • I am the PI on two international grants that started in 2019, both looking at compound flooding. Compound flooding (when the combination, or successive occurrence of, two or more hazard events leads to an extreme impact e.g., coastal and fluvial flooding), can greatly exacerbate the adverse consequences associated with flooding in coastal regions and yet it remains under-appreciated and poorly understood. In the £788k NERC- and NSF- (US National Science Foundation) funded CHANCE project, I am leading a team (working alongside researchers from the University of Central Florida), to deliver a new integrated approach to make a step-change in our understanding, and prediction of, the source mechanisms driving compound flood events in coastal areas around the North Atlantic basin. In the £575k NERC- and NAFOSTED- (Vietnam’s National Foundation for Science and Technology Development) funded project, I am leading a team that is working with colleagues in Vietnam to map and characterise present, and predict future, flood risk from coastal, fluvial, and surface sources and, uniquely, to assess the risk of compound flooding across the Mekong delta; one of the three most vulnerable deltas in the world. I am also the PI on a grant, which started in 2021. In this 41k project, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), we are assessing past and future closures of the six storm surge barriers in the Netherlands.
  • In 2021, I was awarded a 3-year (50% of my time) prestigious Knowledge Exchange Fellowship funded by NERC (UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council) and worth £154k. This fellowship builds strongly on my prior research and the overall goal is to provide guidance and tools that will help storm surge barrier operators better prepare for the impacts of climate change across every area of their operation now and into the future. Within the fellowship I am working primary with the UK Environment Agency (EA) and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). However, to ensure the work undertaken can benefit all the existing (and planned) surge barriers around the world, I am also working closely with I-STORM. I-STORM is an international knowledge sharing network for professionals relating to the management, operation and maintenance of storm surge barriers, and has representation from all the surge barriers worldwide.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Ivo Tews

Professor

Research interests

  • Natural products biosynthesis: a complex cascade of catalytic steps in vitamin B6 biosynthesis is characterised by structures or reaction intermediates in the large PLP syntase complexEdit
  • Bacterial biofilms: understanding of RedOx regulated phosphodiesterase activity in dispersal of biofilms to address chronic infections
  • Cancer immunology: together with Cancer Immunology at Southampton we use a structure based apporach in developing novel cancer therapie
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Professor Jacek Brodzki

Head of School

Research interests

  • Topological data analysis
  • Applications of topology to medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science
  • Noncommutative Geometry

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Mr Jack Stubbs MSci

Research interests

  • Natural products biosynthesis: a complex cascade of catalytic steps in vitamin B6 biosynthesis is characterised by structures or reaction intermediates in the large PLP synthase complexTime-resolved serial crystallography: experiments using microcrystals at room temperature, performed at synchrotrons and XFELsDroplet microfluidics: producing homogenous microcrystal slurries for serial experiments
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Dr Jacqui Prieto RN, PhD

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Preventing urinary tract infection and catheter-associated urinary tract infection
  • Optimising hygiene behaviours in healthcare
  • Understanding patients' experiences of healthcare associated infection

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Jagmohan Chauhan

Lecturer in Computer Science

Research interests

  • Digital healthcare
  • Embedded AI
  • Sensing

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr James Ashton

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Paediatrics
  • Big Data

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor James Batchelor

Associate Dean International

Research interests

  • Public Health / Health Systems
  • Clinical Research Infastrcuture
  • Clinical Informatics / Health Infromatics

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr James Gavin

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Musculoskeletal conditions
  • Physical activity
  • Self-management

Accepting applications from PhD students

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We are at a very exciting time in Life Science Research. The potential for novel discovery using ‘omics technologies combined with the computer science methodologies is immense.
Professor of Genomics

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Contact us

Contact us

Contact the Institute for Life Sciences team by emailing: