Institute of Life Sciences and Healthcare

At the Institute of Life Sciences and Healthcare (ILSH), we discover, understand and develop knowledge of health and disease in order to achieve real-world impact.

Our culture is collaborative and our cross-disciplinary work aligns University's research themes of ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and ‘Future and Emerging Technologies’. Most importantly, it responds to the needs of society.

Through the discoveries we're making at ILSH, many in partnership with healthcare and industry, we're turning our research into real-world impact.

Research

Our research in the Institute of Life Sciences and Healthcare covers the following research areas of expertise:

Research highlights

Our research highlights include how we're seeking to better understand the underlying mechanisms of heath and disease.

The future impact of our research

In addition to the above projects that have well-developed impact, there are a large number of projects whose discoveries are currently being translated.

• A novel method for the screening and sensing of biomarkers and new drugs
• Biochips for disease diagnosis
• Can precise re-creations of disease gene variants be made in Xenopus that are useful to inform clinical interventions?
• Centre for Enzyme Innovation
• Development of Imaging Capability to Evaluate Abrasion, Biofilm and Stain Removal from Dentures
• Elucidating The Biological Role Of i-Motif DNA Structures In Vertebrate Genomes
• Engineering mesoscopic-deep Raman spectrometer for whole-organ depth-encoded chemical analysis
• Exploring the challenges facing Portsmouth residents: a community-based research study
• P2X7 Antagonists
• STOP COVID-19: Sequencing and Tracking Of Phylogeny in COVID-19
• Towards non-invasive localized thermal cancer therapy: Evaluating light to hear converting gold nano-assemblies

Partnerships and funding

We have partnerships with organisations such as Brain Tumour Research, Mary Rose Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

We also have global partners including Nihon University in Japan and the Nencki Institute in Poland.

We work collaboratively to address needs in society – our partnership with Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust has led to the education of clinicians, placements for our students, research papers and funding, and benefited the NHS, patients and the economy.

Between 2013 and 2020, we secured research income of £14.7 million, averaging around £2 million per year. Our funders include UK Research and Innovation (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Medical Research Council (MRC); Wellcome Trust), large charities (Brain Tumour Research; Leverhulme Trust; Rosetrees Trust) and industry.

Events and seminars

The Institute of Life Sciences and Healthcare supports seminars across a variety of our schools, providing a vibrant research environment for staff and students.

Our seminars cover a wide range of subjects where you'll have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of current research trends in the life sciences and healthcare industry, and build connections with experts in the field.

For example, the Colyn Crane Robinson (CCR) Seminar Series is a monthly event with external speakers who discuss a wide range of research topics across the institute. 

For more details about upcoming seminars, contact our ILSH Administrator.

Facilities

Our extensive facilities and equipment are key to delivering collaborative and contract research with our partners spanning healthcare and industry, and academic researchers from across the globe. Our facilities are spread across the following schools:

• School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
• School of the Environment and Life Sciences
• School of Dental, Health and Care Profession

We use biochemical, biophysical and molecular biological techniques to investigate both structural and functional aspects of macromolecular interactions.

We also have facilities for bacterial growth and protein purification, confocal microscopes, atomic force microscopes, and electron microscopes.

We have access to facilities for Synchrotron Radiation at the Diamond Light Source (Harwell) and ESRF (Grenoble), Neutron Scattering facilities at Institut Laue-Langevin (Grenoble) and protein expression facilities at OPPF (Harwell).

Equipment

We also have access to equipment and facilities for surface science, microscopy, pharmaceutics, pharmacology, and biomedical science. 

• Buchii B-290 Spray Drier
• Tabletting Machine
• Particle Sizer
• Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) Apparatus
• Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GCMS)
• High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
• Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) / Atomic Emission Spectrometer (AES)
• Tissue Culturing
• Flow Cytometer
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer
• Fourier-transform Infra-red (FTIR) Spectrometer (Research) / Raman Spectrometer
• Fourier-transform Infra-red (FTIR) Spectrometer (Teaching)
• Ultraviolet Spectrometer
• Contact Angle Goniometer
• Texture Analyser
• Digital Instruments/Veeco - MultiMode Nanoscope IV Atomic Force Microscope, encompassing TappingMode/Contact Mode; Force Spectroscopy, Chemical Force Microscopy (CFM), Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM).
• Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) Carl Zeiss LSM 710. Imager.Z2. Lasers: 405 nm, 453 nm, 458 nm, 488 nm, 514 nm, 633 nm.
• Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) Carl Zeiss LSM 510. AxioPlan 2 with AxioCam HRc camera. Lasers: 488 nm, 543 nm, 633 nm.
• Calcium Imaging Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy -Carl Zeiss Axioskop 2 with LSM 5 Pascal Exciter
• Live Cell Imaging -Carl Zeiss Axiovert 200M (inverted) with incubator (temp, humidity and CO2 control); brightfield, phase, DIC and fluorescence; optigrid; 5x - 100x objectives; Volocity 5.2 software (Improvision).
• Total Internal Reflectance Microscopy (TIRF) - Carl Zeiss Axiovert 200M (inverted) with laser (488 nm); brightfield, phase, DIC and fluorescence; microinjection; 5x - 100x objectives; AxioVision 4.7.1 software (Carl Zeiss).
• Laser Capture Micro Dissection (LCMD) - Arcturus Varitas Microdissection Instrument (Model 704: IR capture laser and UV cutting laser with epi-fluorescence) for removing individual cells or multi-cellular structures tissue sections.

News, blogs and podcasts

Find our more about our latest research successes, read blogs by our academics and listen to the latest ideas and discoveries that look set to change our lives in our Life Solved podcast.