Dr Michael Dillon

Michael is a Lecturer in Infection and Immunity at Peninsula Medical School, where he teaches infectious disease pathogenesis and immunology across a wide range of programmes, including BMBS Undergraduate Medicine, Physician Associate, and MSc Global Heath. He is currently the Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc Physician Associate programme, the undergraduate medicine immunology discipline lead and the module leader for GH711: Introduction to Global Health. Michael has a research background and has previously developed multiple diagnostic test kits for early human and veterinary disease detection in resource-poor settings. 

Michael is currently involved in multiple global public health research projects centred around the spread of infectious disease. He also has a keen interest in inclusivity in both public health and higher education settings. How can we ensure that everyone has equal access to this learning, in a way that fosters an understanding, whilst nurturing curiosity and an excitement to never stop learning?

To this end, Michael also serves as chair of the Faculty of Health Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team and co-chair of the university's LGBT+ Staff Network. 

Michael has supervised multiple undergraduate and MSc projects and dissertations; please get in touch if you would like to work together.

Michael was previously the interim co-lead for the MSc Global Health programme, where he worked very closely with the team to redesign the programme and get the new programme approved. He is interested in helping other programmes achieve greatness and is open to external examiner opportunities. 

Qualifications

PhD Cellular & Molecular Biology | BSc Chemical Engineering | PgCert Clinical Education Teaching

Professional membership

Microbiology Society (Member) | AdvanceHE (Associate Fellow) | Royal Society of Biology (Member 2019 - 2022)

Roles on external bodies

Microbiology Society Teaching Committee (2022-Present)

Microbiology Society Prize Committee (2022-2023)

Teaching interests

Michael has over 10 years experience researching and teaching infectious disease pathogenesis, including microbiology, clinical microbiology, and tropical disease. He also has extensive experience with adaptive immunity, antibody development, and point-of-care diagnostics. In addition to teaching, Michael is also an academic tutor, a personal tutor, and contributes to exam setting and marking across the Faculty of Health. 

 Michael is currently leading on:

• Immunology Co-Discipline Lead: BMBS Undergraduate Medicine
• Module Lead: MSc Global Health GH711: Introduction to Global Health

He also teaches on the following courses:

• Foundation Year
• BMBS Year 1 and Year 2 Undergraduate Medicine
• MSc Global Health
• Physician's Associates Programme
• Postgraduate dissertation, supervision and assessment

Research interests

Michael is involved with the following funded research projects:

• Water-Associated infectious Diseases in India (Wellcome Trust, 2023)
  
• Representation within Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL): student and staff perceptions and recommendations for change (University of Plymouth, 2022)
  
• Experiences of staff returning to work after parental leave (University of Plymouth, 2022)
  
• Curriculum adaptation, design and development: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic (University of Plymouth, 2021)
• A proposal to facilitate NHS personnel to recognise and use new learning gained on a global health experience, on their return to the NHS. An action research study (Health Education England, 2021)

If you feel our research interests align and would like to work together, please get in touch. 

Chapters

Dillon M & Campbell, K. Hyphenating paper-based biosensors with smartphones. Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.coac.2022.11.002

Journals

Mills, Clare C., Dillon MJ, et al. Multiplex Lateral Flow Assay and Sample Preparation Method for the Simultaneous Detection of Three Marine Toxins. Environmental Science Technology (2022), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c02339

Zaczek-Moczydlowska M, Beizaei A, Dillon M, Campbell, K. Current state-of-the-art diagnostics for Norovirus detection: Model approaches for point-of-care analysis. Trends in Food Science & Technology (2021), doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.06.027

Dillon MJ, Zaczek-Moczydlowska M, Edwards C., et al. Current Trends and Challenges for Rapid SMART Diagnostics at Point-of-Site Testing for Marine Toxins. MDPI sensors (2021), doi:10.3390/s21072499

Nelis JLD, Tsagkaris AS, Dillon MJ, Hajslova J, Elliot CT. Smartphone-based assays in the food safety field. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry (2020), doi:10.1016/j.trac.2020.115934

Sheppard EC, Morrish RB, Dillon MJ, Leyland R, Chahwan R. Epigenomic modifications mediating antibody diversification. Frontiers in Immunology (2018), doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.00355

Liew N, Moya M, Hollinshead M, Wierzbicki CJ, Hollinshead M, Dillon MJ, et al. Chytrid fungus infection in zebrafish demonstrates that the pathogen can parasitise non-amphibian vertebrate hosts. Nature Communications (2017), doi:10.1038/ncomms15048

Dillon MJ, Bowkett AE, Bungard MJ, Fisher MC, et al. Tracking amphibian pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans using highly specific monoclonal antibody and lateral-flow technology. Microbial biotechnology (2016), doi:10.1111/1751-7915.12463

Robertson G, Sorenson A, Govan B, Ketheesan N, Houghton R, Chen H, AuCoin D, Dillon MJ, et al. Rapid diagnostics for melioidosis: a comparative study of a novel flow antigen detection assay. Microbial Microbiology (2015), do:10.1099/jmm.0.000098

Dillon MJ, Loban RA, Reed DE, Brett PJ, et al.Contribution of murine IgG Fc regions to antibody binding to the capsule of Burkholderia pseudomallei. Virulence (2015), doi:10.1080/21505594.2016.1176655

Marchetti R, Dillon MJ, Burtnick MN, et al. Burkholderia pseudomallei Capsular Polysaccharide Recognition by a Monoclonal Antibody Reveals Key Details toward a Biodefense Vaccine and Diagnostics against Melioidosis. ACS Chem. Bio. (2015), doi:10.1021/acschembio.5b00502.

Houghton RL, Reed DE, Hubbard MA, Dillon MJ, et al. Development of a prototype lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) for the rapid diagnosis of melioidosis. PLoS Negl Trop. Dis. (2014), 8, e2727