Nick Wheelhouse
Nick Wheelhouse

Dr Nick Wheelhouse BSc (Hons) PhD

Associate Professor

Biography

Associate Professor in microbiology and Deputy lead of the Centre for Biomedicine and Global Health within the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University.

I started my academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology at Edinburgh University where I worked in the areas of liver cancer and transplantation failure. It was here that I developed a keen interest in understanding the underlying causes of disease pathogenesis. I then moved to the Moredun Research Institute where I worked first as a Postdoctoral scientist and then as as Senior Postdoctoral Scientist focusing my research into the effects and impacts of bacterial infections which cause reproductive complications in both humans and livestock.

I co-lead of the Global research alliance Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Intensity Network and I am a Trustee of the British Society for Animal Science. I hold memberships of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases, the hub for infectious disease research in Edinburgh, the Society for Reproduction and Fertility, Microbiology Society, British Society of Animal Science and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I have a breadth of research interests however the main areas of my research are the diagnosis, immunopathogenesis and epidemiology of reproductive infections particularly zoonoses that can be spread from animals to humans. I am particularly interested in understanding the impact of these infections on human health and quantifying their effects on livestock farming.

My work involves collaboration with multiple partner organisations in the UK and overseas, including NHS Lothian, the Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow in the UK where I am an Affiliated Researcher and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where I am an honorary Fellow. Internationally I have collaborations with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, The University of Nairobi, and International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya.

Themes

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Committee member Food Standards Agency Joint Expert Group on Animal Feed and Feed Additives - AFFAJEG
  • Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs - ACAF
  • Network Lead- Animal Health & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network
  • Royal Society of Biology Animal Science Group
  • Council member- Society for Reproduction and Fertility
  • Expert of Science and Technology Evaluation- National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation, Kazakhstan
  • International External advisor for the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria (INTA) in Argentina (2015-)

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Conference Presentation- Joint meeting of ESCCAR/ESCR 2022
  • Conference Presentation: Fertility 2022
  • Judging panel SRF Posters and 'Postdoctoral presentation' session Fertility 2022
  • Royal Society Westminster Pairing
  • Judging panel 'Postgraduate presentation' Fertility 2021
  • Conference Presentation: Fertility 2021, Online
  • Session Chair (Fertility 2020)
  • Judging panel 'Postgraduate presentation' and 'Postdoctoral presentation' sessions Fertility 2020
  • Judging panel 'Best Poster' and 'ECR presentation' Fertility 2019, Birmingham
  • Workshop organiser: KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Conference Presentation: Fertility 2018, Liverpool
  • Conference Presentation: European Society for Coxiellosis, Chlamydioses, Anaplasmoses and Rickettsioses, Marseille,
  • Conference presentation: European Society for Chlamydia Research, Cambridge
  • Conference Presentation: SRF annual meeting, Cambridge
  • Conference Presentation: Edinburgh Infectious Diseases Symposium, 2015
  • Conference Presentation: European Meeting for Animal Chlamydioses, Paris
  • Conference Presentation: European Meeting for Animal Chlamydioses, Jena
  • Conference Presentation: European Society for Chlamydia Research, Amsterdam
  • Conference Presentation: FEMAC meeting, Murcia, 2009
  • Conference Presentation: European Society for Chlamydia Research, Aarhus, Denmark
  • Conference Presentation: COST855 meeting Pulawy, Poland
  • Conference Presentation: COST855 meeting, Edinburgh
  • Conference Presentation: British Society for Immunology, Glasgow
  • Conference Presentation: British Society for Nutrition, Glasgow
  • Conference Presentation: British Society of Animal Science, Scarborough

 

Editorial Activity

  • Associate Editor Veterinary Sciences
  • Reproduction & Fertility- Associate Editor
  • Frontiers in Veterinary Science- Associate Editor
  • Editorial Board Member 'Frontiers in Microbiology'
  • Associate Editor 'Heliyon' Elsevier

 

External Examining/Validations

  • The Royal Veterinary College- External Examiner

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • SRF- Grant awarding committee

 

Grant Reviewer

  • The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna 'Top Vet Science' call
  • Assessor Innovate UK
  • BBSRC Grant Reviewer
  • Research Foundation- Flanders (FWO) Grant Reviewer
  • The German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development
  • National Science Foundation (US)
  • MRC Grant Reviewer

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited Seminar Speaker- Mazingira Centre, ILRI, Nairobi
  • Animal Health Network update: GRA LRG meeting 2022
  • Plenary Speaker 'Vision 2022', Cote d'Ivoire
  • Invited Speaker: SRF Early Career Research Workshop, Edinburgh
  • Acceptability of Extragenital Chlamydia testing in young women- NHS Research Scotland Annual Conference
  • Invited Speaker: Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Invited Speaker: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghaa
  • 'Q-fever' Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow
  • Invited talk: School of Life Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University
  • Global Research Alliance on climate change meeting Reading, June 2015. ‘Investigations into novel pathogens associated with bovine reproductive failure’.
  • Sheep Veterinary Society meeting, Jersey 2010 ‘Evidence of Chlamydophila abortus vaccine strain 1B as a possible cause of ovine enzootic abortion’
  • FACCE JPI MACSUR LiveM meeting Potsdam, June 2016 'Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Network: Achievements and Future'

 

Media Activity

  • The Impact of infectious disease on livestock health-Blog
  • https://whylivestockmatter.org/articles/improving-animal-health-key-sustainable-livestock-production-and-better-human-health
  • Online Policy Brief- Improving animal health: a key to sustainable livestock production and better human health
  • Q-fever podcast- Veterinary times
  • The Crofter Issue 88 Aug 2010 ‘Controlling chlamydial abortion in sheep’
  • The Sheep Farmer July/Aug 2010 ‘Chlamydial abortion’
  • The Sheep Farmer March/ April 2012 ‘Controlling chlamydial abortion’
  • ‘Chlamydial infection of sheep an infectious cause of prenatal lamb death’ http://www.knowledgescotland.org/briefings.php?id=209

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

Public Engagement Activity

  • NSA National Event 2010
  • NSA Scotsheep 2011
  • Royal Highland Show 2013
  • Royal Highland Show 2010
  • National Sheep Association (NSA) Scotsheep 2010
  • Royal Highland Show 2011
  • Moredun Animal Health Roadshow (Peebles) 2011

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Livestock Health Workshop- Nandi County Kenya

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External PhD examination University of Southampton 'Studies on the plasmid-based genetic tools for C. muridarum: progress towards a replicating vector for transposon mutagenesis'
  • University College Dublin PhD examiner 'Bovine sperm sexing impacts sperm morphokinetics, gameto-maternal interaction and subsequent early embryonic development'

 

Reviewing

  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B
  • Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine
  • Epidemiology and infection
  • Frontiers in Microbiology
  • Veterinary Pathology
  • Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
  • PeerJ
  • Pathogens & disease
  • Microbes & infection
  • Chemistry & Biology
  • Veterinary Microbiology
  • Veterinary Journal
  • BMC Veterinary Research
  • Veterinary Immunology & Immunopathology
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases
  • Veterinary Record

 

Visiting Positions

  • International Livestock Research Institute (Nairobi)
  • Honorary Fellow Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
  • Glasgow University IBACHM- Affiliate Researcher
  • Guest Lecturer- University of Liverpool Veterinary School

 

Date


80 results

Ferlavirus-related deaths in a collection of viperid snakes

Journal Article
Flach, E. J., Dagleish, M. P., Feltrer, Y., Gill, I. S., Marschang, R. E., Masters, N., …Wheelhouse, N. M. (2018)
Ferlavirus-related deaths in a collection of viperid snakes. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 49(4), 983-995. https://doi.org/10.1638/2017-0223.1
Between June and October 2013 26 snakes of six viperid species kept in two adjoining rooms died (n = 16) or were euthanized on medical (1) or welfare grounds (9). Two were fro...

Pelvic Chlamydial Infection Predisposes to Ectopic Pregnancy by Upregulating Integrin β1 to Promote Embryo-tubal Attachment

Journal Article
Ahmad, S. F., Brown, J. K., Campbell, L. L., Koscielniak, M., Oliver, C., Wheelhouse, N., …Horne, A. W. (2018)
Pelvic Chlamydial Infection Predisposes to Ectopic Pregnancy by Upregulating Integrin β1 to Promote Embryo-tubal Attachment. EBioMedicine, 29, 159-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.02.020
Tubal ectopic pregnancies are a leading cause of global maternal morbidity and mortality. Previous infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is a major risk factor for tubal embryo...

Control of Antimicrobial Resistance Requires an Ethical Approach

Journal Article
Parsonage, B., Hagglund, P. K., Keogh, L., Wheelhouse, N., Brown, R. E., & Dancer, S. J. (2017)
Control of Antimicrobial Resistance Requires an Ethical Approach. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02124
Ethical behavior encompasses actions that benefit both self and society. This means that tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) becomes an ethical obligation, because the pro...

Herd-level prevalence of selected endemic infectious diseases of dairy cows in Great Britain

Journal Article
Velasova, M., Damaso, A., Prakashbabu, B. C., Gibbons, J., Wheelhouse, N., Longbottom, D., …Guitian, J. (2017)
Herd-level prevalence of selected endemic infectious diseases of dairy cows in Great Britain. Journal of Dairy Science, 100(11), 9215-9233. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2016-11863
To implement appropriate and effective disease control programs at national level, up-to-date and unbiased information on disease frequency is needed. The aim of this study w...

Chlamydia trachomatis infection of human endometrial stromal cells induces defective decidualisation and chemokine release

Journal Article
Giakoumelou, S., Wheelhouse, N., Brown, J., Wade, J., Simitsidellis, I., Gibson, D., …Horne, A. W. (2017)
Chlamydia trachomatis infection of human endometrial stromal cells induces defective decidualisation and chemokine release. Scientific Reports, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02223-z
Miscarriage affects ~20% of pregnancies and 30 maternal infections account for ~15% of early miscarriages. Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) has been associated with miscarriage but ...

Pathogenic outcome following experimental infection of sheep with Chlamydia abortus variant strains LLG and POS

Journal Article
Livingstone, M., Wheelhouse, N., Ensor, H., Rocchi, M., Maley, S., Aitchison, K., …Longbottom, D. (2017)
Pathogenic outcome following experimental infection of sheep with Chlamydia abortus variant strains LLG and POS. PLOS ONE, 12(5), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177653
This study investigated the pathogenesis of two variant strains (LLG and POS) of Chlamydia abortus, in comparison to a typical wild-type strain (S26/3) which is known to be re...

Experimental challenge of pregnant cattle with the putative abortifacient Waddlia chondrophila

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., Flockhart, A., Aitchison, K., Livingstone, M., Finlayson, J., Flachon, V., …Longbottom, D. (2016)
Experimental challenge of pregnant cattle with the putative abortifacient Waddlia chondrophila. Scientific Reports, 6, 37150. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep37150
Waddlia chondrophila is a Gram-negative intracellular bacterial organism that is related to classical chlamydial species and has been implicated as a cause of abortion in catt...

Challenges and priorities for modelling livestock health and pathogens in the context of climate change

Journal Article
Özkan, Ş., Vitali, A., Lacetera, N., Amon, B., Bannink, A., Bartley, D. J., …Kipling, R. P. (2016)
Challenges and priorities for modelling livestock health and pathogens in the context of climate change. Environmental Research, 151, 130-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.07.033
Climate change has the potential to impair livestock health, with consequences for animal welfare, productivity, greenhouse gas emissions, and human livelihoods and health. Mo...

Ovine trophoblasts express cathelicidin host defence peptide in response to infection

Journal Article
Coyle, C., Wheelhouse, N., Jacques, M., Longbottom, D., Svoboda, P., Pohl, J., …Barlow, P. G. (2016)
Ovine trophoblasts express cathelicidin host defence peptide in response to infection. Journal of Reproductive Immunology, 117, 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jri.2016.06.006
Cationic host defence peptides (CHDP; also known as antimicrobial peptides) are key components of the immune response in the female reproductive tract. The role of the placent...

MAPK Activation Is Essential for Waddlia chondrophila Induced CXCL8 Expression in Human Epithelial Cells

Journal Article
Storrie, S., Longbottom, D., Barlow, P. G., & Wheelhouse, N. (2016)
MAPK Activation Is Essential for Waddlia chondrophila Induced CXCL8 Expression in Human Epithelial Cells. PLOS ONE, 11(3), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152193
Background Waddlia chondrophila (W. chondrophila) is an emerging agent of respiratory and reproductive disease in humans and cattle. The organism is a member of the order Chla...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • BBSRC/ Zoetis IPA Chlamydia-like organisms as a novel cause of bovine reproductive failure (£1.2 M)
  • Chief Scientist Office: Mitochondrial DNA deletions in Barrett's oesophagus (£25k)
  • Melville Trust: Mitochondrial DNA mutations as a sentinel marker of hepatocarcinogenesis (£50k)

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