Nick Wheelhouse
Nick Wheelhouse

Dr Nick Wheelhouse BSc (Hons) PhD

Associate Professor

 0131 455 5721

  N.Wheelhouse@napier.ac.uk

   

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.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

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: Fertility 2022
  • Conference Presentation- Joint meeting of ESCCAR/ESCR 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
  • Judging panel 'Postgraduate presentation' and 'Postdoctoral presentation' sessions Fertility 2020
  • Session Chair (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’
  • ‘Chlamydial infection of sheep an infectious cause of prenatal lamb death’ http://www.knowledgescotland.org/briefings.php?id=209
  • The Sheep Farmer July/Aug 2010 ‘Chlamydial abortion’
  • The Sheep Farmer March/ April 2012 ‘Controlling chlamydial abortion’

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

Public Engagement Activity

  • Royal Highland Show 2013
  • NSA National Event 2010
  • NSA Scotsheep 2011
  • 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
  • Pathogens & disease
  • Microbes & infection
  • PeerJ
  • Chemistry & Biology
  • BMC Veterinary Research
  • Veterinary Immunology & Immunopathology
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases
  • Veterinary Record
  • Veterinary Microbiology
  • Veterinary Journal

 

Visiting Positions

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

 

Filter by

Date


80 results

The role of infection in miscarriage

Journal Article
Giakoumelou, S., Wheelhouse, N., Cuschieri, K., Entrican, G., Howie, S. E., & Horne, A. W. (2016)
The role of infection in miscarriage. Human Reproduction Update, 22(1), 116-133. https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmv041
BACKGROUND: Miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before 12 weeks (early miscarriage) or from 12 to 24 weeks (late miscarriage) of gestation. Miscarriage occurs i...

Evidence of members of the Chlamydiales in bovine abortions in England and Wales

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., Mearns, R., Willoughby, K., Wright, E., Turnbull, D., & Longbottom, D. (2015)
Evidence of members of the Chlamydiales in bovine abortions in England and Wales. Veterinary Record, 176, 465. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.103075
Despite the economical importance and welfare issues associated with bovine abortion, as well as the potential zoonotic implications, the rate of diagnosis remains low with a ...

Chlamydia-related Organisms: Infection in Ruminants and Potential for Zoonotic transmission

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., & Longbottom, D. (2015)
Chlamydia-related Organisms: Infection in Ruminants and Potential for Zoonotic transmission. Current Clinical Microbiology Reports, 2(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40588-014-0011-x
The chlamydiae are a diverse group of obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria that are known to infect a wide variety of host species and are responsible for a wide rang...

Chlamydia in cases of bovine abortion in Ireland

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., Longbottom, D., & O'Donovan, J. (2014)
Chlamydia in cases of bovine abortion in Ireland. Veterinary Record, 174(22), 560-561. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.g3567
We report the findings of a preliminary investigation into chlamydial involvement in cases of bovine abortion in Ireland. Chlamydia abortus has long been recognised as a known...

An unusual presentation of Chlamydia pneumoniaeinfection in a Royal Python (Python regius)

Journal Article
Cope, I., Wheelhouse, N., Pocknell, A., Dagleish, M., & Summers, B. (2014)
An unusual presentation of Chlamydia pneumoniaeinfection in a Royal Python (Python regius). Veterinary record case reports, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1136/vetreccr-2014-000086
Chlamydia species are a relatively newly recognised and emerging pathogen in reptile species. Chlamydia pneumoniae has been reported to cause infections in several snake speci...

Diagnosing the causes of ruminant abortion: where are we now?

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., & Dalgleish, M. (2014)
Diagnosing the causes of ruminant abortion: where are we now?. Veterinary Journal, 201(3), 243-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.05.042

Waddlia chondrophila Infects and Multiplies in Ovine Trophoblast Cells Stimulating an Inflammatory Immune Response

Journal Article
Wheelhouse, N., Coyle, C., Barlow, P. G., Mitchell, S., Greub, G., Baszler, T., …Longbottom, D. (2014)
Waddlia chondrophila Infects and Multiplies in Ovine Trophoblast Cells Stimulating an Inflammatory Immune Response. PLOS ONE, 9(7), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102386
BACKGROUND Waddlia chondrophila (W. chondrophila) is an emerging abortifacient organism which has been identified in the placentae of humans and cattle. The organism is a mem...

Absence of correlation between serum CRP levels and mitochondrial D-loop DNA mutations in gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Journal Article
Tan, B. H. L., Skipworth, R. J. E., Wheelhouse, N. M., Fearon, K. C. H., & Ross, J. A. (2014)
Absence of correlation between serum CRP levels and mitochondrial D-loop DNA mutations in gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics, 10(1), 176-9. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1482.131458
INTRODUCTION: Both inflammation and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation are thought to play a role in the many human cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation...

Psittacine beak and feather disease in a free-living ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in Great Britain.

Journal Article
Sa, R. C. C., Cunningham, A. A., Dagleish, M. P., Wheelhouse, N., Pocknell, A., Borel, N., …Lawson, B. (2014)
Psittacine beak and feather disease in a free-living ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in Great Britain. European journal of wildlife research, 60(2), 395-398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0792-x
The ring-necked parakeet (RNP), Psittacula krameri, is an invasive species in Great Britain (GB) which is undergoing rapid population expansion in the wild. Although it has be...

Genome sequencing and comparative analysis of three Chlamydia pecorum strains associated with different pathogenic outcomes

Journal Article
Sait, M., Livingstone, M., Clark, E. M., Wheelhouse, N., Spalding, L., Markey, B., …Longbottom, D. (2014)
Genome sequencing and comparative analysis of three Chlamydia pecorum strains associated with different pathogenic outcomes. BMC Genomics, 15, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-15-23
BACKGROUND: Chlamydia pecorum is the causative agent of a number of acute diseases, but most often causes persistent, subclinical infection in ruminants, swine and birds. In t...

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)

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects