Our people

Institute for Life Sciences

Our strength lies in our interdisciplinary collaborative network which is made up of over 380 academic members from across all the University’s faculties.

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

Connect with Ivan

Email: I.D.Haigh@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 23 8059 6501

ORCID

Dr Ivo Tews

Associate 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

Connect with Ivo

Email: Ivo.Tews@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 23 8059 4415

ORCID

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

Connect with Jacek

Email: J.Brodzki@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 23 8059 3648

Google Scholar

ORCID

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

Connect with Jack

Email: J.R.Stubbs@soton.ac.uk

ORCID

Professor Jackie Bridges PhD MSN BN(Hons) PGCert

Prof of Older People's Care

Research interests

Older people’s care and support
Professional work and workforce development
Organisational behaviour

Connect with Jackie

Email: Jackie.Bridges@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 23 8059 8282

Google Scholar

ORCID

Twitter

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

Connect with Jacqui

Email: J.A.Prieto@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 2380 590613

ORCID