Dr Ian Cooper

Senior Lecturer

contact:
Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
Moulsecoomb
Brighton
BN2 4GJ

Telephone: +44 (0)1273 642092
+44 (0)1273 641189

Email: I.Cooper@brighton.ac.uk

Teaching Activities

I am a microbiologist, specializing in human and environmental microbiology, and teach across all levels of undergraduate courses. I am module leader for five modules as follows:

Level Five

• Fundamentals of Environmental Microbiology
• Human Microbiology

Level Six

• Biomedicine
• Frontiers in Human Biosciences
• Zoonoses

Research

On-going research interests centre upon investigating the underlying mechanisms of microbial virulence and persistence upon abiotic substrata to initiate outbreaks of human disease. I am the Category Three Laboratory Manager, where research focuses on molecular virulence typing of environmental and clinical E. coli O157.

Current research projects include:

• Development of rapid molecular detection methods for human pathogens in water.
• Adapting bacteriophages for use as therapeutic and diagnostic tools.
• The molecular basis of bacterial and fungal adhesion to medical and environmental substrata, and associated changes in expression of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes.
• Isolation of Thiobacillus sp. from sediments and investigating accelerated low water corrosion of steel by these microbes
• Assessing the survival of faecal indicator bacteria in beach sand and river water sediments relative to sea and river water.
• Investigating the shock response of Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms to antibiotic treatment using electron microscopy and molecular techniques.
• The molecular determination of Klebsiella pneumoniae in ophthalmic infection and delayed response to wound healing.
• Molecular virulence typing of environmental and clinical E. coli O157 using molecular methods in an attempt to identify epidemiological trends.
• Determining the molecular pathogenesis of Candida albicans in incidents of ischaemic heart disease.

Scholarly Activity

• Young Author of the Year in 2003 for the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
• Invited reviewer for five microbiology journals: the American Journal of Infection Control, the Journal of Applied Microbiology, Letters in Applied Microbiology, Water Research, and Science of the Total Environment.
• Editor for Woodhead Publishing: Biomaterials and Medical Device Associated Infections.

Consultancy

• The development of antimicrobial coatings for indwelling medical devices such as catheters, stents and heart valves.
• The treatment of potable water systems to prevent outbreaks of Legionellosis.

Recent Student Awards

• Mr Christopher Swift. Student Into Work Grant, from the Society of Applied Microbiology. "The immunomodulatory effect of Lactobacillus-derived signalling molecules: implications for gut research and "health drink" consumers."

Lactobacillus-containing supplements are purported to be effective treatments for diseases caused by both enteric and genito-urinary pathogens, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans. The supporting scientific evidence is ambiguous and contradictory, and is usually qualitative rather than quantitative. Lactobacillus spp. have been shown to produce a range of substances called bacteriocins which are active against other gastro-intestinal bacteria. However, research has shown that not all bacterial strains possess any one specific toxin variant, nor that they have bactericidal effects against specific gastro-intestinal pathogens, again casting uncertainly over the value of ingesting these products.

Further research has revealed that Lactobacillus spp. also possess potential immunomodulatory genes, which are believed to modify the hosts' immune response to favour their binding to the gastro-intestinal mucosa. This might suggest a key facet of intestinal commensal bacteria: the ability to modulate the hosts' immune response to favour colonisation, and the production of toxins active against competing organisms.

This award provided Christopher with a unique research opportunity that would not otherwise have been available to him. Working independently, although under guidance from Dr. Ian Cooper, this project provided Christopher with valuable practical laboratory experience easily adaptable to a future career in the biomedical sciences, and allowing him to translate the theoretical and practical skills learnt so far in his degree into honed bioscience tools able to be transferred between disciplines.

• Mr Oliver Kitt. Undergraduate Project Quorum Prize Scheme Winners for Utilisation of Electron Microscopy 2011. Investigating the morphological changes of Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms on biomedical devices after exposure to sub-therapeutic concentrations of anti-bacterial actives. The project utilised high resolution FEG-SEM to investigate the morphological changes to bacteria and biofilms in response to exposure to anti-bacterial agents. Course: BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, Project Supervisor:  Dr Ian Cooper.
• Mr Aden Steventon. Poster presentation at the Society for Applied Microbiology Summer Conference 2010. Investigating the expression of Has1, Has2 and Has3 genes by Candida albicans and the impact this may have on in-stent restenosis.

Society Memberships

• Institute of Biology
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Society for Applied Microbiology
• International Water Association
• American Society for Microbiology

Recent Publications