Dr Campbell Gourlay

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Dr Campbell Gourlay joined the school in November 2006. He is a member of the Kent Fungal Group and the Yeast Molecular Biology Group.

Campbell Gourlay began his career at The John Innes Centre in 1996 where he studied the genetic control of leaf development. Following this he began to work with budding yeast as a model eukaryote in the lab of Kathryn Ayscough, where he investigated the role of actin in the process of endocytosis. During this time he discovered a link between actin, the regulation of mitochondrial function and the control of ageing and apoptosis. This led to his involvement in the emerging field of yeast apoptosis, which has popularised the novel concept that unicellular organisms possess the ability to undergo programmed cell death as an altruistic act for the betterment of a population.

In 2006 he was awarded a five year MRC Career Development Fellowship to establish his own lab within the Kent Fungal Group at the University of Kent where is now a Senior Lecturer in Cell Biology. The Gourlay lab maintains a strong interest in the role that actin plays in the control of homeostatic mechanisms that contribute to healthy ageing. Of particular interest are interactions between actin, mitochondria and signal transduction pathways that are crucial to cellular response to stress. The lab also uses yeast as a model eukaryote to study a number of aspects of cancer biology and the toxicity associated with protein aggregations linked to human disease.

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2373-6788

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