Urological Biology
Our work
Bladder diseases have been historically understudied. We look at two key areas: recurrent / treatment-resistant urinary tract infection (UTI) and urothelial cancers. Both have suffered from a lack of human cell-based models to provide insights that experimental animals cannot.
In addition to studying the basic biology, we build innovative new microtissue models and develop novel therapies, in broad interdisciplinary collaborations across cell biology, microbiology, computational genetics, medicine, biomedical engineering, materials science and mathematics, spanning academia, industry and the clinic.
Research themes include:
- Tissue engineering and on-chip microfluidic platforms
- Molecular human cell biology
- Host / pathogen interactions of recurrent UTI in various populations, including older individuals and immunosuppressed renal transplant patients
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Pathogen genomic variation in vivo, including within the urinary microbiota
- Biofilms
- Novel drug delivery systems
- Epithelial innate immunity, urothelial biology and urothelial cancers.
Prof. Jennifer Rohn,Claudio Del Fatti and Damien Richard talk about their research, while chronic UTI patient Helen explains why it’s such a terrible disease.
Our experts
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Professorial Research Fellow
(Deputy Head)
Honorary Associate Professor
Dr Gillian Smith
RFL Group Chief Medical Officer
Professor of Renal Transplantation
Group members
Nicholas Yuen
Victoria Chu
Selected Publications
- ǰ, Ling J, Loh A, Garcia Maset R, Aw A, White IJ, Fernando R,dz (2023).. BioRxiv.
- Stride E, Choi V, Carugo D, dz, Stoodley P (2023). . Nature Reviews Microbiology.
- ڲ,Rohn JL (2023).. Frontiers in Infection Cell Microbiology, 13, 269.
- Lasri Doukkali A, Lorenzi T, Parcell BJ, dz, Bowness R (2023). . Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 9.
- Morris CJ,dz, Glickman S, Mansfield KJ (2023). Pathogens, 12 (3).
- ٳԲԳٳǴǰٳ, Florman K, Richard D, Cheng KK, Torri V, McCaig F, Harber M & dz(2022). . Transplant Direct. 2023 Jan 6;9(2):e1418.
- DzѰ, dz,Jafari, NV, et al(2022). . Advanced Science.
- ڲ, dz(2022). . Mucosal Immunology, 15, 1127-1142.
- Tandogdu Z, Collins J, Shaw G, dz, et al(2021). . BJU Int. 2021 Jun;127(6):729-741.
- ѳܰ, ǰ, Williams C, Flusberg DA, Marr EE, Kwiatkowska KM ... dz(2021). . Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 May 26;11:691210.
- Kasivisvanathan V, Lindsay J, Rakshani-Moghadam S, Elhamshary A ... Rohn, JL, et al (2020). . International Journal of Surgery, 84 57-65.
- DZԲ, ٳԲԳٳǴǰٳ, dz, Malone-Lee, J(2020). . Int Urogynecol J, Jun;31(6):1255-1262.
- , dz, ٳԲ, Horsley H, ڲ...dz(2020). . Journal of Controlled Release,Dec 10;328:490-502.
- King JS, Humphreys D, dz, et al(2020). . Cellular Microbiology, e13248.
- ܲղ, ڲ, Feasey N, dz, Roberts AP(2019). . Frontiers in Microbiology, 10.
- Katsakouli C, Jiang X, Lau WK, dz, Edirisinghe M(2019). . ACS Omega, 4 (1), 2225-2233.
- dz, Mostowy S, King JS, et al. (2019). . Cell Microbiol, e13081.
- Horsley H, Owen J, Carugo D, Malone-Lee J, Stride E, dz(2019). . Journal of Controlled Release, 301, 166-175.
- ٳԲԳٳǴǰٳ, Malone-Lee J, Gill K, Tymon A...dz (2019).. J Clin Microbiol,57(3):e01452-18.
- Horsley H, ٳԲ, Malone-Lee J,dz (2018). . 1238 Scientific Reports.
Funding and Partnerships
Collaborators
- Prof Eleanor Stride, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford
- Dr Dario Carugo, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford
- Dame Fiona Powrie, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford
- Prof Jamie Davies, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh
- Prof Meriem El Karoui, Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh
- Prof Mohan Edirisinghe, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UCL
- Prof Francois Balloux, Genetics Institute, UCL
- Dr Lucy Van Dorp, Genetics Institute, UCL Prof Rik Bryan, University of Birmingham
- Prof Mark Linch, UCL Cancer Institute, and Consultant Medical Oncologist, UCLH
- Dr Ruth Bowness, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Univeristy of Bath
- Mr John Hines, Consultant Urological Surgeon, UCLH
- Dr Brett Eisenberg, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Boston USA
- Dr Adam Roberts, Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine.
Related programmes
Our members contribute to the MBBS, iBSc, BSc and master's degrees within the Division of Medicine. We provide BSc, iBSc and MSc/MRes research project supervision. We also have an established track record in providing high-quality training to PhD students interested in basic, translational, and clinical research in urological biology.
Contact
Professor Jennifer Rohn
j.rohn@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter / X: @jennyrohn
Professor Reza Motallebzadeh
r.motallebzadeh@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter / X: @rezamotallebov