Craig Stevens
Craig Stevens

Dr Craig Stevens

Associate Professor

 0131 455 2930

  C.Stevens@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

Dr Craig Stevens BSc PhD FHEA is Associate Professor and Principal Investigator (PI) within the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU). Craig completed his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh in 1999 and his PhD from the University of Glasgow in 2004 where he studied the role of E2F transcription factors in DNA damage checkpoint control within the group of Prof Nick LaThangue. In 2004, he moved to the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre within the Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine (IGMM) at the University of Edinburgh for his first Postdoctoral Research position, joining the Cell Signalling Laboratory of Prof Ted Hupp where his research focused on the control of cell growth by mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTORC1) and death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) signalling pathways. Craig stayed at the IGMM for a Senior Research Fellow position, joining the Gastroenterology Laboratory of Prof Jack Satsangi to investigate the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), specifically Crohn’s disease (CD). During this time Craig helped to secure funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC), Chief Scientist Office (CSO) and the National Association of Crohn’s and Colitis (NACC).

In 2012, Craig joined the School of Applied Sciences at ENU as Lecturer and PI, was appointed Research Leader in Biomedical Sciences in October 2016 and promoted to Associate Professor in August 2018. At ENU Craig's academic role focuses on both research and teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Research in Craig’s group is currently supported by funding from Crohn's in Childhood Research Association (CICRA) and the CSO and focusses on three main areas:

1. Understanding the role of autophagy in CD.
2. Investigating the mechanism of action of drugs commonly used to treat patients with IBD.
3. The role of host defence peptides in IBD.

The potential for translational research results from Craig's strong collaborative links with ongoing IBD research at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh (Dr Paul Henderson, Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist) and University of Oxford (Prof Jack Satsangi, Consultant Physician). Craig also has strong collaborative links at ENU with Dr Peter Barlow investigating novel peptide based therapeutics for the treatment of IBD.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Expert reviewer for the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), Ireland
  • Expert reviewer for Fondation Innovations en Infectiologie (Finovi), France

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Autophagy UK meeting, London, England
  • European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Conference, Autophagy, from molecular principals to human diseases, Dubrovnik, Croatia
  • ER Stress, Autophagy & immune system, Bruges, Belgium
  • International congress of Mucosal Immunology, Washington, USA
  • European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) congress, Barcelona, Spain
  • BSPGHAN annual meeting, Glasgow, Scotland
  • Autophagy UK meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial Board of Advances in Biology

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Medical Research Council Peer Review

 

Invited Speaker

  • British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG), 1st Supraregional Meeting - Workshop: Intestinal Inflammation, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN) annual meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW), Stockholm, Sweden

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • British Society for Immunology
  • Edinburgh Organoid Network
  • Edinburgh Infectious Diseases Network

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Crohn’s in Childhood Research Association (CICRA) academic panel that meets children and families with IBD
  • STEM ambassador

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • MRes student for the University of Edinburgh

 

Reviewing

  • Journal of Crohn's and Colitis
  • Journal of Medical Microbiology
  • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
  • Toxicology Letters
  • Journal of Cancer

 

Filter by

Date


38 results

Cathelicidins display conserved direct antiviral activity towards rhinovirus.

Journal Article
Sousa, F. H., Casanova, V., Findlay, F., Stevens, C., Svoboda, P., Pohl, J., …Barlow, P. G. (2017)
Cathelicidins display conserved direct antiviral activity towards rhinovirus. Peptides, 95, 76-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2017.07.013
Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are the most common cause of viral respiratory tract infections, and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised ind...

Design and evaluation of novel theranostic fluorogenic dual probe-prodrug in cancer

Journal Article
Mathur, S., Mincher, D., Turnbull, A., Stevens, C., & Poole, A. (2016)
Design and evaluation of novel theranostic fluorogenic dual probe-prodrug in cancer. European Journal of Cancer, 61, S142. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-8049%2816%2961501-0
Background: In spite of major advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, there remains a paucity of biomarkers for early detection. Legumain is a potential cancer biom...

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drugs: A Focus on Autophagy

Journal Article
Hooper, K. M., Barlow, P. G., Stevens, C., & Henderson, P. (2017)
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drugs: A Focus on Autophagy. Journal of Crohn's and Colitis, 11(1), 118-127. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjw127
Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Medications such as corticosteroids, thiopurines, immunomodulators and...

Cationic host defense peptides; novel antimicrobial therapeutics against Category A pathogens and emerging infections

Journal Article
Findlay, F., Proudfoot, L., Stevens, C., & Barlow, P. G. (2016)
Cationic host defense peptides; novel antimicrobial therapeutics against Category A pathogens and emerging infections. Pathogens and Global Health, 110(4-5), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2016.1195036
Cationic Host Defense Peptides (HDP, also known as antimicrobial peptides) are crucial components of the innate immune system and possess broad-spectrum antibacterial, antivir...

Antiviral host defence peptides.

Book Chapter
Sousa, F. H., Casanova, V., Stevens, C., & Barlow, P. G. (2016)
Antiviral host defence peptides. In R. M. Epand (Ed.), Host Defense Peptides and Their Potential as Therapeutic Agents, 57-94. Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32949-9_3
The on going global mortality and morbidity associated with viral pathogens highlights the need for the continued development of effective, novel antiviral molecules. The anti...

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition).

Journal Article
Baghdiguian, S., Bagniewska-Zadworna, A., Baek, S., Baehrecke, E. H., Bae, S. H., Bae, D., …Stevens, C. (2016)
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition). Autophagy, 12(1), 1-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356
In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientis...

PWE-090 the effect of commonly used Ibd drugs on autophagy induction using an in vitro cell culture system.

Journal Article
Henderson, P., Satsangi, J., Wilson, D., & Stevens, C. (2014)
PWE-090 the effect of commonly used Ibd drugs on autophagy induction using an in vitro cell culture system. Gut, 63(Suppl 1), A163. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2014-307263.350
Introduction Genome wide association studies and functional experiments in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have delineated the importance of autophagy in IBD pathogenesis. We...

Autophagic targeting of Src promotes cancer cell survival following reduced FAK signalling

Journal Article
Sandilands, E., Serrels, B., McEwan, D. G., Morton, J. P., Macagno, J. P., McLeod, K., …Frame, M. C. (2012)
Autophagic targeting of Src promotes cancer cell survival following reduced FAK signalling. Nature Cell Biology, 14(1), 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2386
Here we describe a mechanism that cancer cells use to survive when flux through the Src/FAK pathway is severely perturbed. Depletion of FAK, detachment of FAK-proficient cells...

A role for vimentin in Crohn disease

Journal Article
Henderson, P., Wilson, D. C., Satsangi, J., & Stevens, C. (2012)
A role for vimentin in Crohn disease. Autophagy, 8(11), 1695-1696. https://doi.org/10.4161/auto.21690
Crohn disease (CD), one of the major chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, occurs anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract with discontinuous transmural inflammation. A number of...

The Role of Autophagy in Crohn’s Disease

Journal Article
Henderson, P., & Stevens, C. (2012)
The Role of Autophagy in Crohn’s Disease. Cells, 1(3), 492-519. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells1030492
(Macro)-autophagy is a homeostatic process by which eukaryotic cells dispose of protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Autophagy is also used to degrade micro-organisms th...

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects