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Prof Dave Spratt
-
Microbial Diseases, UCL Eastman Dental Institute
256 Gray's Inn Rd
London
WC1X 8LD
Appointment
- Professor of Microbial Ecology and Education
- Microbial Diseases
- Eastman Dental Institute
- Faculty of Medical Sciences
Biography
My Research career started
with my PhD at University of the West of England where I spent 3 years investigating
microbial physiology of an oral pathogen (Capnocytophaga
gingivalis) and characterising purifying hydrolytic enzymes produced by
this organism under various growth conditions. I moved to the University of
Bristol Dental School to take up a post-doctoral position where I characterised
uncultivable bacteria in pus using molecular techniques. Following this I moved
to Guys Hospital (UMDS) for another Post doc position and developed methods
using molecular techniques to characterise novel oral asaccharolytic Eubacterium
species. In 1997 moved to a post-doctoral position at the Eastman
Dental Institute to work on endodontic microbiology and in 1998 was appointed
to a lecturer position. I spent several years using novel molecular biology
techniques to detect and quantify and then used these techniques to study
microbial communities and disease inception and progression. I continued this
research (funding from EU, MRC, BBSRC, Wellcome and Industry) and was promoted
to Senior Lecturer and then Reader. In tandem with this research I also
maintained roles as Faculty Graduate Tutor and Vice Head of the Doctoral School.
I was then made Co-Director of the new Applied Medical Science undergraduate
programme which I (with Prof Kevin Moore) wrote, developed and ran. In 2016 I was
promoted to Professor of Microbial Ecology and Education and Director of Education
for the Eastman Dental Institute.
Research Groups
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See LessResearch Themes
See More See LessResearch Summary
At present my research
activities revolve around a number of aspects of microbial ecology. I am
primarily interested in understanding population shifts in our commensal
microbiota which are associated with the inception and progression of polymicrobial
diseases. A number of molecular techniques including metagenomics are now
available which allow the population profile of a given microbial population to
be ascertained in an unbiased and cultured independent manner. These techniques
have revolutionised our understanding of the human microbiome and it is thought
that perhaps 50,000 different species make up the human microbiome. I am part
of teams investigating the human microbiome in health and disease associated
with the oral cavity, lungs, liver, kidneys and indeed some studies with
primate gut microbiota.
Teaching Summary
My ethos has always been to
teach what is required for present day problems rather than what has always
been taught. This has meant thinking carefully about my teaching on the various
programmes that I contribute to. This began with teaching on MSc programmes to
dentists (in 1998 at The Eastman Dental Institute) where the specialty had a
significant microbiological basis e.g. Endondontics (root canal infections) and
Periodontology (gum disease). I wrote and delivered a series of lectures based
on understanding microbiology concepts – not just endodontic or periodontal
microbiology. Understanding the general concepts and how these can be fitted to
oral disease both engages the students fully and allows them question their
understanding and the literature surrounding the field. This lead to engaging
with the MSc students (endodontics student) about clinical microbiological
sample taking and sample processing. What happens to a clinical sample once
they sent it to a laboratory? Most never knew! I designed and ran (still run) a
series of practical’s and lectures about this process.
In 2013 I was asked by the
Dean (Professor Lomas) to be the co-Director of a new undergraduate degree programme
within the Faculty of Medical Sciences. With this concept of “teaching what is
needed” in mind both Kevin More and myself planned, developed and wrote a new
BSc/MSci in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. The Applied Medical Sciences (AMS)
programme successfully launched in 2014. As a Director I run the programme but
have also written and run a 3rd Year module (The Human Microbiome in
Health and Disease).
More recently I have been
significantly involved in a series of spin out BSc programmes based on the Applied
Medical Sciences programme. I have worked with Programme Leads to develop Nutrition
and Applied Medical Sciences (2017), Medical Sciences & Engineering (2017),
Cancer Biomedicine(2018), Infection & Immunity (2019), Medical Innovation
& Enterprise (2019) and Sports & Exercise Medical Sciences (2019).
Academic Background
| 1994 | PhD | Doctor of Philosophy – Microbiology | University of West England |
| 1990 | BSc Hons | Bachelor of Science (Honours) – Applied Biological Sciences | Bristol Polytechnic |
