Damer Blake
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Damer is a lecturer in Molecular Parasitology. His research interests are focused on protozoan parasites and pathogens of poultry using genetics and molecular biology.
Biography
Damer graduated with a degree in Animal Science from Wye College (University of London) in 1997. Following an MSc in Pig Production, he completed a PhD in bacterial genetics, both at the University of Aberdeen. After the completion of his PhD in 2001 he took up a post at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) working on avian coccidiosis caused by the protozoan Eimeria species. During his time at IAH he carried out fundamental and applied genetics-led research, contributing to the Eimeria genome sequencing consortium, developing reverse-genetics strategies for use with Eimeria, designing a series of new molecular diagnostic tools and using genetic mapping as a step towards development of a new generation of cost-effective anticoccidial vaccines. In 2010 Damer was appointed Lecturer in Molecular Parasitology at the Royal Veterinary College.
Research
Since joining the RVC Damer has extended his research interests in Eimeria - protozoan parasites with cause the disease coccidiosis in all livestock species, most notably poultry. These parasites can cause a severe enteritis and have been estimated to cost the global poultry production industry in excess of £2 billion per annum. Current research strands include continuing studies to map genetic loci that encode genuinely immunoprotective antigens as vaccine candidates and the development of Eimeria as a novel vaccine delivery vehicle (in collaboration with Prof. Fiona Tomley). More recently Damer has developed research interests in Eimeria population genetics and genetic diversity, interactions of Eimeria with bacterial pathogens of poultry, parasite diagnostics and studies on parasite evolution in domestic and wild animals.
Ongoing projects include:
BBSRC Japan Partnering Award: Post-genomic analysis on veterinary apicomplexan parasites 2008 - 2012.
BBSRC India Parterning Award: Control of coccidiosis: Eimeria brunetti, a neglected but important pathogen of chickens 2008 - 2012.
BBSRC/DfiD Combating Infectious Diseases of Livestock for International Development (CIDLID): Anticoccidial vaccine development: the importance of genetic diversity and delivery strategy 2010 - 2013.
BBSRC Industrial Partnering Award: Recombinant vaccines for poultry: the use of attenutated Eimeria acervulina as a novel live delivery vehicle for viral vaccines 2011 - 2014.
BBSRC CASE studentship: Eimeria species as novel anti-bacterial vaccine delivery vehicles 2011-2015 .
BEMB pump-priming grant: Transcriptome and proteome resources for the poutlry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae. 2012.
Teaching
Damer teaches veterinary parasitology in various modules on the BVetMed, BVetMed Graduate Accelerated, BSc Bioveterinary Science and MSc Control of Infectious Diseases in Animals courses. He supervises PhD theses within the field of molecular parasitology and research projects on several RVC courses, a number of which have resulted in student presentations given at conferences and publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Damer has recently joined the Control of Infectious Diseases in Animals Masters course as the co-leader for Module 2 - Emerging Diseases.
Selected Publications
Peer reviewed papers
Blake DP, Alias H, Billington KJ, Clark EL, Mat-Isa M-N, Mohamad A-F-H, Mohd-Amin M-R, Tay Y-L, Smith AL, Tomley FM, Wan K-L (2012) EmaxDB: Availability of a first draft genome sequence for the apicomplexan Eimeria maxima. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology (in press).
Clark JD, Oakes RD, Redhead K, Crouch CF, Francis MJ, Tomley FM, Blake DP (2012) Eimeria species parasites as novel vaccine delivery vectors: anti-Campylobacter jejuni protective immunity induced by Eimeria tenella-delivered CjaA. Vaccine 30:2683-2688.
Amiruddin N, Lee X-W, Blake DP, Suzuki Y, Tay Y-L, Lim L-S, Tomley FM, Watanabe J, Sugimoto C, Wan K-L (2012) Characterisation of full-length cDNA sequences provides insights into the Eimeria tenella transcriptome. BMC Genomics 13:21.
Barkway CP, Pocock RL, Vrba V, Blake DP (2011) Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for the species-specific detection of Eimeria that infect chickens. BMC Vet Res 7:67.
Lai L, Bumstead J, Liu Y, Garnett J, Campanero-Rhodes MA, Blake DP, Palma AS, Chai W, Ferguson DJP, Simpson P, Feizi T, Tomley FM, Matthews S (2011) The role of sialyl glycan recognition in host tissue tropism of the avian parasite Eimeria tenella. PLoS Pathogens 7:e1002296.
Chow Y-P, Wan K-L, Blake DP, Tomley F, Nathan S (2011) Immunogenic Eimeria tenella Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored Surface Antigens (SAGs) Induce Inflammatory Responses in Avian Macrophages. PLoS One 6:e25233.
Aarthi S, Dhinakar Raj G, Raman M, Blake D, Subramaniam C, Tomley F (2011) Expressed sequence tags from Eimeria brunetti - preliminary analysis and functional annotation. Parasitology Research 108:1059-1062.
Lizundia R, Newman C, Buesching CD, Ngugi D, Blake D, Sin YW, Macdonald DW, Wilson A, McKeever D (2011) Evidence for a Role of the Host-Specific Flea (Paraceras melis) in the Transmission of Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) pestanai to the European Badger. PLoS One 6:e16977.
Katzer F, Lizundia R, Ngugi D, Blake D, McKeever D (2011) Construction of a genetic map for Theileria parva: Identification of hotspots of recombination. International Journal for Parasitology 41: 669-675.
Blake DP, Billington KJ, Copestake SL, Oakes RD, Quail MA, Wan K-L, Shirley MW and Smith AL (2011) Genetic mapping identifies novel highly protective antigens for an apicomplexan parasite. PLoS Pathogens 7:e1001279.
Blake DP, Oakes R, Smith AL (2011) A genetic linkage map for the apicomplexan protozoan parasite Eimeria maxima and comparison with Eimeria tenella. International Journal for Parasitology 41:263-270.
Goh M-Y, Pan M-Z, Blake DP, Wan K-L, Song B-K (2011) Eimeria maxima phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase: locus sequencing, characterization, and cross-phylum comparison. Parasitology Research 108:611-620.
Vrba V, Blake DP, Poplstein M (2010) Quantitative real-time PCR assays for detection and quantification of all seven Eimeria species that infect the chicken. Veterinary Parasitology. 174:183-190.
Loo S-S, Blake DP, Mohd-Adnan A, Mohamed R and Wan K-L (2010) Eimeria tenella glucose-6-phosphate isomerase: molecular characterization and assessment as a target for anticoccidial control. Parasitology 137:1169-1177.
Velkers FC, Blake DP, Graat EAM, Vernooij JCM, Bouma A, de Jong MCM, Stegeman JA (2010) Quantification of Eimeria acervulina in faeces of broilers: comparison of McMaster oocyst counts from 24 hour faecal collections and single droppings to real-time PCR from cloacal swabs. Veterinary Parasitology 169:1-7.
Periz J, Ryan R, Blake DP, Tomley FM; (2009) Eimeria tenella microneme protein EtMIC4: capture of the full length transcribed sequence and comparison with other microneme proteins. Parasitology Research. 104:717-721.
Beck H-P, Blake D, Dardé M-L, Felger I, Pedraza-Díaz S, Regidor-Cerrillo J, Gómez-Bautista M, Ortega-Mora LM, Putignani L, Shiels B, Tait A, Weir W; (2009) Molecular approaches to diversity of populations of apicomplexan parasites. International Journal for Parasitology 39:175-189.
Clark JD, Billington K, Bumstead JM, Oakes RD, Soon PE, Sopp P, Tomley FM, Blake DP; (2008) A toolbox facilitating stable transfection of Eimeria species. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 162:77-86.
Blake DP, ZongHua Qin, JianPing Cai and Smith AL; (2008) Development and validation of real-time polymerase chain reaction assays specific to four species of Eimeria. Avian Pathology 37: 89-94.
Shirley MW, Smith AL and Blake DP; (2007) Challenges in the successful control of the avian coccidia. Vaccine 25:5540-5547.
Ling K-H, Rajandream M-A, Rivailler P, Ivens A, Yap S-J, Madeira AMBN, Mungall K, Billington K, Yee W-Y, Bankier AT, Carroll F, Durham AM, Peters N, Loo S-S, Mat-Isa MN, Novaes J, Quail M, Rosli R, Shamsudin MN, Sobreira TJP, Tivey AR, Wai S-F, White S, Wu X, Kerhornou A, Blake D, Mohamed R, Shirley M, Gruber A, Berriman M, Tomley F, Dear PH and Wan K-L; (2007) Sequencing and analysis of chromosome 1 of Eimeria tenella reveals a unique segmental organisation. Genome Research 17:311-319.
Blake DP, Shirley MW and Smith AL; (2006) Genetic identification of antigens protective against coccidia. Parasite Immunology 28:305-314.
Blake DP, Hesketh P, Archer A, Carroll F, Shirley MW and Smith AL; (2006) Eimeria maxima: the influence of host genotype on parasite reproduction as revealed by quantitative real-time PCR. International Journal for Parasitology 36:97-105.
Blake DP, Hesketh P, Archer A, Shirley MW and Smith AL; (2005) The influence of immunising dose size and schedule on immunity to subsequent challenge with antigenically distinct strains of Eimeria maxima. Avian Pathology 34:489-494.
Shirley MW, Blake D, White SE, Sheriff R and Smith AL; (2004) Integrating genetics and genomics to identify new leads for the control of Eimeria spp. Parasitology 128 Supplement S1:S33-S42.
Blake DP, Hesketh P, Archer A, Carroll F, Smith AL, and Shirley MW; (2004) Parasite genetics and the immune host: recombination between antigenic types of Eimeria maxima as an entrée to the identification of protective antigens. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 138:143-152.
Blake DP, Smith AL and Shirley MW; (2003) Amplified fragment length polymorphism analyses of Eimeria spp.: an improved process for genetic studies of recombinant parasites. Parasitology Research 90: 473-475.
Blake DP, Hillman K, Fenlon DR and Low JC; (2003) Transfer of antibiotic resistance between commensal and pathogenic members of the Enterobacteriaceae under ileal conditions. Journal of Applied Microbiology 95: 428-436.
Blake DP, Humphry R, Scott KP, Hillman K, Fenlon DR and Low JC; (2003) Influence of tetracycline exposure on tetracycline resistance and the carriage of tetracycline resistance genes within commensal Escherichia coli populations. Journal of Applied Microbiology 94: 1087-1097.
Blake DP, Hillman K and Fenlon D; (2003) The use of a model ileum to investigate the effects of novel and existing antimicrobials on indigenous porcine gastrointestinal microflora: using vancomycin as an example. Animal Feed Science and Technology 103: 123-139.
Humphry R, Blake D, Fenlon D, Horgan G, Low J and Gunn G; (2002) The quantitative measurement of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli at the meta-population level (meta-population analysis). Letters in Applied Microbiology 35:326-330.
Patents
Blake DP, Smith AL and Shirley MW. Vaccine. PCT/GB2011/051456 (pending)
Outreach Activities
Damer is an associate editor for BMC Veterinary Reserach.
Damer also currently supports the Science Learning Centre, assisting school science teachers develop exciting and relevant resources for school children of all ages.