Close

Dr Martin Taylor

BSc PhD

Associate Professor
of Molecular Biology

Room
K394

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel.
02079588245

Martin did his PhD in the laboratory of Prof.Michael Miles at the LSHTM on the trypanothione reductase of Leishmania donovani. He then spent three years as a post-doc in Prof. Piet Borst's lab at the Netherlands Cancer Institute where he worked on antigenic variation and technology development in African trypanosomes. He returned to the LSHTM in 1995 to join Dr John Kelly's group working on the American trypanosome, Trypanosoma cruzi.

Affiliations

Department of Infection Biology
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Centres

Antimicrobial Resistance Centre

Teaching

Martin is the organiser for Module 3131 Molecular Biology and Recombinant DNA Techniques.

He lectures on general control of gene expression, RNA interference/CRISPR (biology and technology), Cell biology of invasion and immune evasion by T. cruzi and Leishmania, Trypanosomatid molecular biology, the immunology of African and American Trypanosomiases, and the use of imaging technology in biomedical research.

He also supervises MSc projects and PhD students and is a tutor/project supervisor on the Distance Learning Infectious Diseases MSc.

Research

Martin's main interest is in the interaction of trypanosomes with the mammalian host, including the acquisition of essential micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. He is currently investigating micronutrient salvage pathways and iron utiisation in T. brucei and T. cruzi.

He is also investigating the local immunological response to infected cells in the chronic stage of T. cruzi infection in the mouse model using dual reporter parasite lines. He is particularly interested in immune evasion in Chagas disease and the role of the immune system in disease pathogenesis.

He is  involved in the creation of models for drug development in Stage II African trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis. This has involved the engineering of parasite lines expressing very high levels of firefly luciferase. Use of  red-shifted luciferase has led to a highly sensitive infection model which is being used to streamline in vivo drug development for these neglected tropical diseases. He has developed a combined bioluminescence/fluorescence model for investigating the pathogenesis and immunology of Chagas disease which allows the investigation of host-parasite interactions within the chronic stage. He is currently extending this system to Leishmaniasis (both visceral and cutaneous forms).

Martin has also developed a tetracycline based inducible expression system for T. cruzi which is now being used in several laboratories worldwide. He is currently developing RNA/protein level knockdown systems for Trypanosoma cruzi which lacks conventional RNA interference machinery and an improved inducible expression system for this organism.

Research Area
Drug discovery and development
Drug resistance
Innate immunity
Micronutrients
Parasites
Trypanosomes
Vaccines
Chemotherapy
Protozoa
Discipline
Genomics
Immunopathology
Biochemistry
Cell biology
Genetics
Immunology
Microbiology
Molecular biology
Parasitology
Pathology
Disease and Health Conditions
Infectious disease
Leishmaniasis
African trypanosomiasis
Chagas Disease
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Vector borne disease
Zoonotic disease
Region
World

Selected Publications

Local association of Trypanosoma cruzi chronic infection foci and enteric neuropathic lesions at the tissue micro-domain scale.
Khan AA; Langston HC; Costa FC; Olmo F; Taylor MC; McCann CJ; Kelly JM; Lewis MD
2021
PLoS pathogens
A receptor for the complement regulator factor H increases transmission of trypanosomes to tsetse flies.
Macleod OJS; Bart J-M; MacGregor P; Peacock L; Savill NJ; Hester S; Ravel S; Sunter JD; Trevor C; Rust S
2020
Nature communications
Intracellular DNA replication and differentiation of Trypanosoma cruzi is asynchronous within individual host cells in vivo at all stages of infection.
Taylor MC; Ward A; Olmo F; Jayawardhana S; Francisco AF; Lewis MD; Kelly JM
2020
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Bioluminescent:Fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi Reporter Strains as Tools for Exploring Chagas Disease Pathogenesis and Drug Activity.
Taylor MC; Ward AI; Olmo F; Francisco AF; Jayawardhana S; Costa FC; Lewis MD; Kelly JM
2020
Current pharmaceutical design
A single dose of antibody-drug conjugate cures a stage 1 model of African trypanosomiasis.
MacGregor P; Gonzalez-Munoz AL; Jobe F; Taylor MC; Rust S; Sandercock AM; Macleod OJS; Van Bocxlaer K; Francisco AF; D'Hooge F
2019
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Expanding the toolbox for Trypanosoma cruzi: A parasite line incorporating a bioluminescence-fluorescence dual reporter and streamlined CRISPR/Cas9 functionality for rapid in vivo localisation and phenotyping.
Costa FC; Francisco AF; Jayawardhana S; Calderano SG; Lewis MD; Olmo F; Beneke T; Gluenz E; Sunter J; Dean S
2018
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Host and parasite genetics shape a link between Trypanosoma cruzi infection dynamics and chronic cardiomyopathy.
Lewis MD; Francisco AF; Taylor MC; Jayawardhana S; Kelly JM
2016
Cellular microbiology
The Trypanosoma cruzi vitamin C dependent peroxidase confers protection against oxidative stress but is not a determinant of virulence.
Taylor MC; Lewis MD; Fortes Francisco A; Wilkinson SR; Kelly JM
2015
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Highly sensitive in vivo imaging of Trypanosoma brucei expressing \"red-shifted\" luciferase.
McLatchie AP; Burrell-Saward H; Myburgh E; Lewis MD; Ward TH; Mottram JC; Croft SL; Kelly JM; Taylor MC
2013
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
See more Publications