Research focus: To develop integrative approaches to study the role of connexin mediated communication in diverse tissue networks and to develop novel tools to regulate connexin channel behaviour.
Patricia is a Principal Investigator within the School of Health and Life Sciences at GCU and was the Bio-Research group lead for the strategic theme of the Molecular Mechanisms underpinning Long term conditions from 2015-2017. Her specific area of research is the role of connexins in health and disease states including chronic non-healing wounds, psoriasis and other hyperproliferative skin disorders. She collaborates with groups interested in vascular complications such as pulmonary arterial hypertension. She is an international lead in the Gap Junction field and collaborates closely with industry and clinicians. In 2017 she hosted the bi-annual International Gap Junction Conference in Glasgow attracting over 200 international delegates to the 5 day focussed meeting www.igjc2017.com . She also is a member of an international grouping focussing on the development of connexins as therapeutic targets. She has supervised over 10 PhD students in this area of research and has published widely in the field (>60 publications).
Before joining GCU Patricia held postdoctoral fellows at the University of Wales (1994-2003), where she established her work on Connexins; University Wageningen, The Netherlands (1992-1993) and the University of Wurzburg, Germany (1991-1992). She has a PhD in Molecular Virology from the University of Warwick (1991) and graduated with BSc Hons in Biochemistry with Microbiology in 1987 from St Andrews University.
Current and Recent projects:
SULSA: Optical Imaging award: Skin deep: new mesoscopic imaging of large tissue volumes at high resolution (2019-2020)
GCU/Unilever funded PhD studentship: Molecular Physiology of Apocrine sweat gland secretions (2018-2021).
Psoriasis Association PhD studentship: A role for connexin-mediated signalling events in the pathogenesis of psoriasis(2015-2018).
Current staff
Carmela Errico (PhD student)
Boatemaa Ofori Frimpong (Research Assistant).
Patricia is Bio-Postgraduate Research tutor responsible for overseeing the progression of over a cohort of over 20 Bio-PhD students. She also co-ordinates the GCU Research Skin Tissue Bank. If you wish information on accessing this tissue please see the webpage or email for further information.
In addition, she is module lead for a range of cell biology based modules on the GCU Biomedical Science undergraduate programme and engages widely with the students encouraging work experience through summer placement programmes.
Twitter: @Trisha_CxGCU