Kate’s project, ‘Disentangling the temporal interplay between the liver and gut in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)’ will study the impact of liver disease on patients’ gut bacteria. PSC is a rare liver disease with no effective treatment. Patients with PSC have damage to their bile ducts impacting the transport of bile between the liver and the gut. Kate’s Fellowship will focus on analysing blood and faecal samples in patients with PSC to look at the impact this disrupted bile transport has on the gut microbiome (the community of bacteria living in the gut), gut health and the relationship with liver disease. It is hoped that data from the study will provide information on how gut and liver problems in patients with PSC interact with the gut microbiome. This will pave the way for future studies that focus on modifying these interactions through diet for example.
Kate will work in collaboration with the Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies (OCMS), the Powrie Group and the Translational Gastroenterology and Liver Unit (TGLU). Her supervisor, Dr Nicholas Ilott said ‘We are very excited to have Dr Kate Coldwell join the Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies (OCMS) here at the Kennedy Institute. Support from the Daphne Jackson Trust, the MRC and the KTRR has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to provide bioinformatics development opportunities to Kate in the field of microbiome science.’
Kate will use a range of inter-disciplinary bioinformatics technologies developed by the Institute's microbiome and data science platforms. To support her metabolomics studies, Kate will benefit from the close collaboration between the OCMS and Professor James McCullagh at the Department of Chemistry, which will provide access to state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities.
On receiving the Fellowship, Kate said ‘The Daphne Jackson Fellowship has enabled me to move back into research (and to a new field of research) after a 10 year career break (where I had two children and worked as a secondary school science teacher) and to retrain in data science.’
Kate also said ‘My previous research career was in cancer biology and then umbilical cord blood stem cells so it wasn't directly relevant to the gut microbiome, but that is where I really want to direct my return to a research career. Daphne Jackson Trust encouraged me to approach the KIR asking for an opportunity to develop a project proposal for my Fellowship. Nick Ilott offered the opportunity to work on the DYNAMHIX in PSC project and retrain with him. I wouldn't be able to return to research after my career break if it were not for the Daphne Jackson Trust.’
The Daphne Jackson Trust is dedicated to returning researchers following a career break for a family, caring or health reason.
Daphne Jackson Fellowships offer professionals the opportunity to balance an individually tailored retraining programme with a challenging research project in a suitably supportive environment.