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Wildlife health and environmental diagnostics
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The overlap between ecotoxicology, physiological stress, and progression to disease in organisms is of considerable interest to members of this research centre and represents a consistent theme across numerous current and previous research efforts. The influences of toxicants and nutritional supplements on immune system function are investigated by various assays that target aspects of immune system function in both cultured organism and in organisms captured from field sites. Fish pathology has been a traditional strength at Plymouth University and within the research focus of various members of this research team. Research and teaching focus on clinical examination of diseased fish and include various diagnostic procedures that are based on molecular biology, microbiology, and physiological assessments of disease. Pathogens are important components of cultured and wild organisms and the connection between pathogens, environmental change, and host response will continue to represent important research areas within this research centre.
Current research projects
- Ways of integrating environmental and human health risk assesment procedures through the use of common endpoints across taxa and the study of mechanisms of toxicity at multiple levels of biological organisation.
- The use of organisms as sentinels of pollutant exposure is also being investigated to provide early warning threats to human health.
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