Research in Focus: Using Nitric Oxide to Tackle Cystic Fibrosis
As part of #BiofilmWeek, we’re highlighting interesting and exciting biofilm research from across our network and partner research institutions by early career researchers and PhD students.
We interviewed Malek Hawela, an NBIC BITE PhD student at the University of Southampton about his research, which focusses on biofilm dispersal, specifically Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.
Tell us a little about your background. How and why did you want to explore a career in science?
I originally come from Northern Ireland. I did my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science and found that the most interesting aspect of my degree was microbiology and immunology. When I was a GCSE student, I remember one of the things that started pushing me a bit more towards microbiology was plasmids, I thought they were really interesting. Whenever we talked a bit about infection and immunology, I realised that is what I wanted to do. When I did my undergraduate project, I was running into issues with bacteria forming aggregates and that is when I became interested in biofilms.
What is your area of research and what industry does this research or technology relate to? (e.g., health, biofouling)
I would say my research focusses on health because we are looking at biofilm dispersal in the context of cystic fibrosis and antimicrobial resistance. Whilst this is still very far away, we are seeing whether any of the proteins could be targets for potential treatments in the future.
How does your work link to biofilms and/or AMR?
Part of my project is focussed on the molecular mechanisms of nitric oxide dispersal and c-di-GMP synthesis. The general idea is that if you can reduce the production of local pools of c-di-GMP signalling or global pools of c-di-GMP signalling you would be able to induce dispersal and maybe control virulence in a way that isn’t likely to induce sepsis. This could also help with antimicrobial resistance as well because dispersed bacteria are more susceptible to antibiotics.
Image of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm taken with a Confocal Fluoresce microscope. Courtesy of Malek Hawela and the University of Southampton imaging centre.
What are the problems/unmet needs that your work hopes to address?
Admittedly it is still early days with the project. There is still more interest in setting up the biofilms, identifying potential molecules that we could use in conjunction with nitric oxide and basic molecules to. And setting up the cloning protocols to create a lot of mutants in one go.
Have you undertaken any public engagement activities? If so, please share any highlights with us.
The main public engagement event that I have done was the Southampton Science Festival. I helped on the phage section, but also the biofilms section which had Lego. It was fun to have an excuse to explain my work whilst also building Lego sets!
Has NBIC supported you with any of your projects or in your career? If so, please explain how.
NBIC has a very good system of setting up the training modules and covering support for conferences which has been quite helpful. The training modules are very collaborative with other universities, so you can go to other universities and have the chance to meet potential future collaborators and get a better idea of what each group specialises in. It was interesting to see what Liverpool and Edinburgh specialises in. NBIC are also one of the main funders of my project as well!
What is one thing we can do as scientists to positively impact equality, diversity and inclusion?
I think that one of the things we need to do is reach out early to schools in a lot of different areas. One of the things I have noticed whenever I have been at university is that a lot of people actually have a poor understanding about what a lot of degrees entail, what sort of work they will get out of it, or what the actual work is. A lot of people when they hear about a PhD, they think it’s going to be another x number of years of lectures, or x number of years of assignments, rather than it being a pretty much research focussed job that isn’t necessarily as well paid as some jobs, but provides you with enough money to live comfortably. It has relatively clear working hours based on how you set up your work. It is not like being a student, it’s more like being a junior researcher in a university. I feel like with a lot of these things there needs to be a targeting at younger age groups from different socio-economic backgrounds and schools so that they have a better understanding of what these careers entail and what these career pathways are actually like, rather than having a rough idea that they have heard of third or fourth hand.
Find out more
If you are interested in learning more about this work and would like to connect with Malek please contact NBIC at nbic@biofilms.ac.uk.
Malek Hawela, NBIC BITE PhD student at the University of Southampton
