Dr Daniel Neill

Senior Lecturer

Molecular Microbiology, School of Life Sciences

Daniel Neill

Contact

Email

[email protected]

Phone

+44 (0)1382 388899

Biography

Daniel Neill is Principal Investigator within the Division of Molecular Microbiology. He obtained a PhD in infection immunology from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, in 2010. He worked as a post-doctoral researcher, first at the University of Leicester, and later, from 2012, at the University of Liverpool. Whilst at Liverpool, he was awarded a Wellcome and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale fellowship and a Tenure Track fellowship, enabling him to establish his own research group. He moved to the University of Dundee, as Senior Lecturer, in 2023.
 

Research

Our lab is interested in bacterial infections of the airways. In particular, we seek to understand how the physical, chemical and biological environment of the respiratory tract influences bacterial phenotypes, including those associated with virulence and antimicrobial resistance. Several of the species that we study can act as commensals or asymptomatic colonisers of the upper airways but are also capable of causing severe disease when they descend into the lower regions of the respiratory system. We aim to understand the relationship between commensalism and pathogenesis in these species and to define the host and pathogen factors that drive a switch between the two modes of life.

Much of the work of the lab is centred around Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the major pathogen of the cystic fibrosis lung and a common cause of hospital-acquired infection. Ongoing work examines the process of pathogen adaptation to host environments, using experimental evolution approaches. We also aim to improve on existing in vitro and in vivo models of infection, to better capture the key conditions of the respiratory tract in health and disease. A long-term goal is the development of novel therapeutics and vaccines for treatment and prevention of bacterial respiratory diseases.

A neutrophil attacking a Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm on the airway epithelial surface

A neutrophil attacking a Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm on the airway epithelial surface

Selected Publications

Upper and lower airway microenvironments offer different challenges and opportunities to bacterial pathogens

Upper and lower airway microenvironments offer different challenges and opportunities to bacterial pathogens

Pseudomonas aeruginosa sequesters host factors to avoid antibiotic killing

Pseudomonas aeruginosa sequesters host factors to avoid antibiotic killing

View full research profile and publications

Teaching

  • BS42009 – Advanced Molecular Microbiology – module manager and contributor
  • BS32004 – Molecular Microbiology - contributor
  • Honours Year – project supervisor
  • Integrated MSci – project supervisor

PhD Projects

Principal supervisor

Second supervisor

Awards

Award Year
Wellcome and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship 2017

Stories