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Staff Profile

Emeritus Professor Barry Hirst

Emeritus Professor

  • Address: Biosciences Institute
    University of Newcastle
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Newcastle Upon Tyne
    NE2 4HH
Background

External services

Health Research Authority; Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee Chair  https://www.hra.nhs.uk/about-us/committees-and-services/res-and-recs/search-research-ethics-committees/north-east-newcastle-and-north-tyneside-2/

Health Education England; Centre for Advancing Clinical Practice, External Panel Chair/Member https://advanced-practice.hee.nhs.uk/

Academy for Healthcare Science; Education, Training & Standards Committee Chair https://www.ahcs.ac.uk/

Academy for Healthcare Science; Regulation Board https://www.ahcs.ac.uk/

Qualifications

BSc Physiology, Newcastle upon Tyne
PhD Newcastle upon Tyne


Google Scholar web link:

http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=_bsrRw0AAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID:

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6117-7908

Research

Research Interests

Epithelia form a barrier between the external world and the body. Epithelial barrier functions minimise access of toxic agents and pathogens, while providing for selective uptake of nutrients. Three inter-related areas, intestinal nutrient transport, intestinal drug transport and epithelial-bacterial pathogen interactions are the focus of research.

Intestinal nutrient transporters allow not only for nutrient supply from the diet to the body, but also fulfil specialist needs in maintaining enterocyte homeostasis. One example is the supply of glycine by the high-affinity glycine-specific GLYT1 transporter (SLC6A9 gene). GLYT1 demonstrates both apical and basal localisation, with at least five different transcripts identified, from the use of two promoters and with several differential splicing events. The laboratory investigated the role of these different transcripts of the GLYT1 in maintaining glycine supply to enterocytes during the fasting-fed cycle. This is coupled to studies of the role of glycine in maintaining enterocyte health in the face of oxidative and other challenges. The role of GLYT1 in maintaining cancer cell proliferation is a related area.

Oral drug bioavailability is a balance between passive and active absorptive mechanisms and the ability of the intestinal epithelium and hepatocytes to actively secrete drug molecules through a variety of ABC-transporters. Research focused on the role of these transporters and their potential for interaction with drug metabolism systems, thus enabling predictive in vitro methods for assessing oral bioavailability.

Many pathogenic bacteria have evolved to interact specifically with epithelial tissues, enabling them to gain access to the host. Research on human tonsils, in collaboration with Judith Hall and Janet Wilson (ENT Surgery), focused on the determinants for interaction of Streptococci with human tonsils, the expression and regulation of antimicrobial peptides in the tonsil and the influence of antimicrobial peptides on Streptococci-tonsil interactions.


Google Scholar web link:

http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=_bsrRw0AAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6117-7908
Teaching



Publications