Lucy Urwin

Lucy Urwin

Email: lurwin2@sheffield.ac.uk
PhD: 2018-
Department: Infection, Immunity & Cardiovascular Disease
Supervisor(s): Prof. Peter Monk (IICD)
Dr Lynda Partridge (MBB)
Dr Luke Green
Project: Developing a corneal biofilm model for
antimicrobial drug testing

Corneal infections remain a major contributor to global blindness, particularly in developing
countries. One of the main difficulties in treating corneal infections is that pathogenic bacteria have
been shown to colonise the corneal surface as biofilm populations. These biofilm bacteria exhibit
different phenotypic traits to their planktonic counterparts, including an increased resistance to
antibiotics and therefore new ophthalmic antimicrobials are desperately required. In order to test
new antimicrobials in a way that will be predictive of their efficacy in humans, it is essential that
reliable test models exist. Previous studies have largely depended on the use of excised animal
corneas but major structural and functional differences mean these ex-vivo models can never be
fully representative of the human cornea. Hence, the aim of my project is to develop an in-vitro cell
culture model of the corneal epithelium that can be used to simulate biofilm infections. This model
will allow us to investigate host-pathogen interactions occurring at the corneal surface and assess
the efficacy of new anti-infective peptides that have been developed at the University of Sheffield.

Roles within the Florey/University:

2019-present: Florey Student Cohort committee lead
2019-present: Peer Mentor for PGR students at UoS Medical School
2018-2019: Member of the 2019 Florey Symposium team

Public engagement:

Exploring STEM for girls 2020: a 1-day interactive event designed to excite, inform and spark girls'; curiosity in Science. The Florey put together a stall advertising our research and the careers opportunities that are available to molecular biologists.
Science Day Fair at Westways Primary School, Sheffield: This event was entirely organised by the Florey student cohort. A small group of PhD students visited a local primary school where we delivered a series of science activities to children in Y5/6. Topics included the face/hand microbiome, the importance of hand washing and how microscopes help us to carry out our research.
MRC Festival of Medical Research 2019: a 2-day annual event where MRC-funded researchers showcase and discuss their work through public events and activities. The theme of the festival was “Fighting the good fight: how medical research help us combat disease”.

The Team

Former Members
and Alumni