Andrew Smith’s research is focused on understanding the innate immune response within healthy and diseased tissue. He has ongoing collaborative projects investigating the role the innate immune system plays in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, orofacial granulomatosis, lichen planus, mucosal inflammation and microbiome.

The group currently has three major overlapping areas of interest-

A.     Macrophage immune response in health and disease

A major area of interest involves understanding how cytokines are induced, sorted, packaged and trafficked in immune cells. Abnormalities in cytokine secretion have been associated with numerous human diseases, but the specific mechanisms responsible are still unclear. The current research involves a mixture of genetic analysis, whole genome transcriptomic profiling, in vivo and in vitro modelling of human disease and mass spectrometry based shotgun proteomics. Numerous collaborations with leading experts in cell biology, proteomics, genomics and bioinformatics have been established to unravel the complex world of cytokine secretion and inflammatory disease.

B.      The role of the epithelium in mucosal inflammation

The interaction between epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract and the commensal microflora is of particular interest to the group. Transcriptomic profiling of colonic mucosal tissue has revealed changes in the epithelial integrity associated with ulcerative colitis. These findings have resulted in a number of current projects looking at the role of the colonic epithelium in regulating inflammation and disease.

 C.      The role of the microbiome in mucosal inflammation

We have recently demonstrated that the oral microbiome is shaped by a persons environment and their genetic background plays only a minor role. These findings have now also been shown to be applicable the lower gastrointestinal tract as well. It is therefore theoretically possible to manipulate a persons microbiome by altering their environment in order to change their health. Our current research is focused on understanding how the microbiome develops as we age and if we can manipulate it in order to improve chronic inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract.   

Research Opportunities

There are currently projects available to investigate aspects of innate immunity, epithelial integrity, oral / gastrointestinal disease and the microbiome. Potential MSc and PhD students and individuals suitable for personal fellowships should contact Andrew directly.