Dr Karen Wright

Peel Trust Lecturer in Biomedicine

Personal Introduction

I was trained at the University of Bath where I completed a BSc Hons in Biology and a PhD in Pharmacology under the guidance of Prof John Westwick (now Global Head of the Respiratory Disease Area at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) and Prof Stephen Ward (now Head of Pharmacology). I became particularly interested in epithelial cell signalling during gut inflammation and I was lucky to become part of an existing collaboration with clinicians at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. I was able to use to ethically-obtained human intestinal tissue for research and established the expression of the cannabinoid system in the colon and ileum.

I have been at Lancaster University since October 2008 and have established new research collaborations with the surgeons and gastroenterologists at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. I am partly funded by the Peel Trust and have a BBSRC-Novartis funded studentship.

I teach UG and PG modules on Cell Biology (theory and practical), Microbes and Disease and Immunology and have designed and launched a new MSc in Medical Biotechnology and Leadership, which combines core bioscience skills with leadership and project management skills. I am also developing a new online distance-learning module for industry funded by the BBSRC, based on a taught MSc module in Drug Discovery and Development (from concept to clinic).