Medway school of pharmacy

My  first academic post was in the School of Pharmacy, University of Brighton. From there I moved to Birkbeck College and the on to the University of Hull. My final move to Medway was in September 2005. During my career I have developed a number of strong collaborations with groups in the US and more recently Australia. I have successful supervised 10 PhD and 4 MPhil/MSc (by research) students and most have continued in research and many now hold academic posts  Although my research interests have expanded, the main focus is on the control of microbial infection, however the study of protozoan parasites has remained a core theme.

Specialist area

Currently I co-ordinate 1MPharm course and 1  Foundation degree course and I also have responsibility for Biological Safety within the  School

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Photodynamic therapy

The development of novel approaches to control infection is a major research interest. In collaboration with Dr R Boyle (Dept of Chemistry, University of Hull), we have been looking at the potential of photoactivated drugs to control problem microbial infections including wounds and localised parasitic infections. These drugs are only activated when exposed to light. We are now looking at the potential of this treatment modality to control cutaneous./ muco-cutaneous leishmaniais and wounds and ulcers. Our work on Leishmania was recently highlighted by the BBC  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/6933773.stm.  Following on from this we have also been looking at the killing of micro-organisms in biofims and also studying how biofilms can cause failure in some indwelling devices

Protozoan parasites

Over the past 10 years I have been involved in studying the physiological adaptation of protist parasites to their environment in the host. This has mostly focused on the protozoan Giardia duodenalis, a human pathogen. During this time I have identified new metabolic pathways in this organism and have also characterised the biochemical process through which this organism survives in the gastrointestinal tract, in particular adaptation to an environment with variable oxygen concentrations - active oxygen species and oxidative stress. I have also been involved in a number of related studies looking at the process of cellular transformation in Giardia and the genetic plasticity of this species. Currently we are studying the pathway(s) of drug induced programmed cell death in this organism.

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• Atif M, Dyer  PE, Paget TA, Snelling HV (2007). Two-photon excitation studies of mTHPC photosensitiser and photodynamic activity in an epithelial cell line. Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy.4: 106-111
• Smith H V,  Paget TA (2007) GiardiaIn: Foodborne Diseases(Simjee S ed.) Human Press Inc U S. Chapter 11
• Bristow C A, Hudson  R, Paget TA, Boyle RW (2006) . Potential of cationic porphyrins for photodynamic treatment of cutaneous Leishmaniasis  Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy3:  162-167
• Abulreesh H, Paget TA, Goulder R (2006). Campylobacter in waterfowl and aquatic environments: Incidence and methods of detection  Environmental Science and Technology40: 7122-7131
• Paget TA , Maroulis S,  Mitchell A, Edwards MR,  Jarroll EL, Lloyd D (2004).  Menadione kills trophozoites and cysts of Giardia intestinalis. Microbiology-SGM150: 1231-1236
• Khan NA, Paget TA  (2002). Molecular tools for speciation and epidemiological studies of Acanthamoeba.  Current Microbiol 44: 444-449
• Khan NA,  Jarroll EL, Paget TA (2002). Molecular and physiological differentiation between pathogenic and non-pathogenic Acanthamoeba. Current Microbiol 45: 197-202
• Jarroll EL, Macechko PT, Steimle PA, Bulik D, Karr CD, van Keulen H,  Lopez H Paget TA, Gerwig G, Kamerling J, Vliegenthart J, Erlandsen S  (2002). Giardia cyst wall filaments and N-acetylgalactosamine synthesis during encystment; pp 15- 30. In: Giardia the cosmopolitan parasite (Eds Olsen BE, Olsen ME & Wallis P) CAB International.
• Lloyd D, Harris JC, Biagini GA, Maroulis S, Edwards MR, Turner MP, Ralphs J, Hann AC, Wadley R, Ellis J, Paget TA (2002). Oxygen homeodynamics in Giardia; pp 31-46.  In: Giardia the cosmopolitan parasite (Eds Olsen BE, Olsen ME & Wallis P) CAB International.
• Jarroll EL, Macechko PT, Steimle PA, Bulik D, Karr CD, van Keulen H, Paget TA, Gerwig G, Kamerling J, Vliegenthart J, Erlandsen S (2001). Regulation of carbohydrate metabolism during Giardia encystment.J Euk Microbiol 48: 22-26

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