Sheena Margaret Cruickshank is a British immunologist and Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Public Engagement at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
. She researches how immune responses of the gut are started as a result of infection and/or
inflammation
Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...
.
Cruickshank is a science communicator.
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Education
Cruickshank completed a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
& Immunology at Strathclyde University
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...
. She earned a PhD in immunology
Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...
in 1998 from the University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
pleiotropic
Pleiotropy (from Greek , 'more', and , 'way') occurs when one gene influences two or more seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. Such a gene that exhibits multiple phenotypic expression is called a pleiotropic gene. Mutation in a pleiotropic ge ...
cytokines
Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in autocrin ...
on liver cells.
Research and career
Since 2007 Cruickshank has worked in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manchester. She uses ''in vitro'' and ''in vivo'' approaches to characterise crosstalk
In electronics, crosstalk is any phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an undesired effect in another circuit or channel. Crosstalk is usually caused by undesired capacitive, induc ...
between immune cells, commensal bacteria, pathogens and epithelial cells. These experiments make use of infectious models, including ''Toxoplasma gondii
''Toxoplasma gondii'' () is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, ''T. gondii'' is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as d ...
'' and ''Trichuris muris
''Trichuris muris'' is a nematode parasite of mice. It is very similar to the human roundworm parasite '' Trichuris trichiura'' due to its immunological reactivity when crossed, and so is often used in related studies.
Lifecycle
Ingesting m ...
'', to understand immunity regulation in the skin and gut. By identifying how the skin and gut recognise and respond to the microbiome
A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably well ...
, they are starting to understand how it affects cell function. Cruickshank won the Northwest BioNow award for her test for the management and assessment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammation, inflammatory conditions of the colon (anatomy), colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine a ...
.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
broadcast in 2018 in the series ''The Life Scientific
''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Professor Jim Al-Khalili , in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of one living scientist.
The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili a ...
'' Sheena Cruickshank's reflections on her life and career.[ Her brother was passionate about science and particularly marine biology which inspired her to have an interest in science from an early age. His subsequent illness with cancer and death at a young age was a series of events that helped shape her curiosity about the immune system and why diseases happen.]
Public engagement
In 2009, Cruickshank co-created the ''Worm Wagon'', "an interactive program that merges art and science activities to promote awareness of parasitic worm infection". She later created the ''Wiggling Rangoli'', exploring parasites and how parasitic infections impacts people around the world. Cruickshank created the citizen science
Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...
app ''Britain Breathing'', which teaches the impacts of air pollution. The app maps the incidence of allergies and asthma, and uses data to explore why allergies are increasing and the role of air pollution in allergy development. She is a trustee of and the Public Engagement Secretary for the British Society for Immunology
The British Society for Immunology, or BSI, is a UK-based organisation of British immunologists but accepts members from all countries. It was founded in November 1956 by John H. Humphrey, Robin Coombs, Bob White, and Avrion Mitchison and is one ...
. She has appeared on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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