Director of Research and Professor in Environmental Biology

Tel: +44 (0)1392 264450
Fax: +44 (0)1392 263434

Email

Degrees

• 2003: DSc, University of Lancaster
• 1984-1987: PhD, University of Aston
• 1983-1984: MSc in Applied Fish Biology, University of Plymouth
• 1980-1983: BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, University of Lancaster

Career

• 2005-present: Director of Research for Biosciences, University of Exeter
• 2005-2010: UK Supervisor for United Kingdom-Japan Research into Endocrine Disruption, Department of Food and Rural Affairs
• 2005-2008: Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute of Zoology, London
• 2000-present: Professor in Environmental and Molecular Fish Biology, University of Exeter
• 1999-2000: Reader in Biological Sciences, Brunel University
• 1996-1999: Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences, Brunel University
• 1990-1996: Lecturer in Biological Sciences, Brunel University

Research Group

• PhD students: Katherine Liney (Environment Agency), Gavin Riley (BBSRC –CASE with Molecular Light Technology Research);Gregory Paull (part-time) (Environment Agency); Amy Filby (BBSRC); Katherine Tyldesley (NERC-CASE with IFE, Windermere); Katie Sumner (with Dr Stevens - Westcountry Rivers Trust/Environment Agency); Lisa Bickley (BBSRC-CASE with Astrazeneca); Adam Lillicrap (MPhil part-time, AstraZeneca);Marion Sebire (with Dr Katsiadaki, CEFAS – DEFRA); Vivienne Fowler (NERC-Industrial CASE with Astrazeneca); Angela Poulson (with Dr Stevens - BBSRC CASE with West Country Rivers Trust); TBA. (BBSRC)
• Postdocs/Research Technicians: Dr Karen Thorpe (Environment Agency/AstraZeneca), Dr Eduarda Santos (NERC); Dr R vanAerle (EU); Dr Anke Lange (NERC); Laura Chidgey (NERC); Greg Paull (Environment Agency); Dr Gerd Maack (Environment Agency); Dr Jon Ball (NERC).

Major Research Interests & Current Projects

My research has a firm basis in fish reproductive physiology and ecotoxicology and the Exeter team is made up of anywhere between 15 and 20 people, depending on funding, with a stream of visitors from international laboratories. Research techniques employed are very wide ranging with a strong focus on integrative whole animal physiology and functional genomics. We generated some of the very first data to show that there are chemicals in the environment that mimic hormones (so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals - EDCs) that may lead to altered reproductive function in fish and subsequently established that wild fish were being adversely affected by exposure to these EDCs in UK rivers. Our present studies on endocrine disruption include a series of ‘field’ projects that are establishing when gender disruption (intersex- the presence of both male and female sex cells in the same gonad) is manifest in wild fish and what the reproductive consequences of this disruption are. These data have been used to support the drive for a national programme of remediation to reduce endocrine activity in treated effluents before their discharge into the environment. We also have collaborative projects that are identifying the causative chemicals of endocrine disruption and laboratory studies determining their mechanisms of action and interactive (mixture) effects. Molecular approaches are at the centre of our studies unravelling the mechanisms of endocrine disruption, including the application of cDNA and oligonucleotide microarrays. We are also applying molecular techniques (DNA microsatellites) to investigate potential population level effects and consequences of exposure to EDCs in fish. Embedded in our ecotoxicology work is research elucidating the basic endocrine and molecular mechanisms controlling sexual development and function in fish.

The Exeter team has a very extensive network of international collaborators (Japan, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, South Africa, and India), and with academic, industry and government bodies.My laboratory is one of the partners in the EUs' core consortium for studies into Endocrine Disruption (CREDO) and I act as a consultant on endocrine disruption for the EU, industry, government agencies and the press, both national and international. Our work on endocrine disruption has been featured widely in the Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and other national newspaper, and it has been the focus of many television and radio programmes. We have received substantial funding for our research from Research Councils (NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC), The European Union, Industry (various), The Wellcome Trust and government agencies (EA, DEFRA).

Teaching Interests/Duties

I teach a wide range of subjects spanning Ecotoxicology (as a final year module), Animal Biology and Evolution, Human Reproduction and Field Courses in Ecology and Wildlife Photography. Lectures on these subjects are delivered to both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Recent Publications

Selection of Recent Publications (from over 120 peer reviewed papers):


• Thorpe, K., Hetheridge, M., Hutchinson, T.H., Scholze, M., Sumpter, J.P. and Tyler, C.R. (2001). Assessing the interactive effects of binary mixtures of environmental oestrogens in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss ) using vitellogenin induction. Environmental Science and Technology. 35:2476-2481
• van Aerle, R., Jobling, S., Christiansen. L., Sumpter, J.P and Tyler, C.R. (2001). Evidence for sexual disruption in a second species of freshwater fish (gudgeon,.Gobio gobio ) living in UK rivers receiving sewage treatment works effluent. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 20:2841-2847.
• Kwon, J., Prat, F., Randall,C. and Tyler, C.R (2001). Molecular characterisation of putative yolk processing enzymes and their expression during oogenesis and embryo development in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss.. Biology of Reproduction. 65:1701-1709.
• Jobling, S., Coey, S., Whitmore, J. Beresford, N., Nolan, M., Brighty, G., Sumpter, J.P. and Tyler, C.R. (2002) Altered sexual maturation and gamete production in wild roach (Rutilus rutilus: Cyprinidae) exposed to treated sewage effluent in UK rivers. Biology of Reproduction. 66(2):272-281.
• Thorpe, K., Hetheridge, M.J., Hutchinson, T.H., Scholze, M., Sumpter, J.P., and Tyler, C.R. (2003). Relative potencies and combination effects of steroidal oestrogens in fish. Environmental Science and Technology. 37:1142-1149
• Nash, J.P., Kime, D.E., van der ven, L.T.M., Wester, P.W., Brion, F., Maack, G.,Stahlschmidt-Allner, P., Tyler C.R. (2004). Environmental concentrations of the pharmaceutical ethinyloestradiol cause reproductive failure in fish. Environmental Health Perspectives. 112:1725-1733

 

SELECTED INTERNATIONAL INVITED LECTURES Since 2001

 

2007 Environmental Genomics and Pollution. NERC Environmental Genomics Dissemination Meeting, Westminster, UK. Keynote.

 

2007 The application of transcriptomics and other molecular approaches in advancing our understanding of endocrine disruption. 44th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology, The Netherlands. Keynote.

 

2007 Impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, in wastewater treatment works effluents on fish and fish populations in UK Rivers. XI International Congress of Toxicology, Montreal, Canada. Keynote.

 

2007 Endocrine Disruption - Recent Advances. 10th International Symposium on Endocrine Active Substances, Tokyo Japan. Keynote.

 

2007 Application of molecular approaches in unravelling sexual disruption in fish. ECETOC Conference 'Application of Omics Technologies in Toxicology and Ecotoxicology: Case studies' December 2007, Malaga, Spain.

 

2006 Population Level Impacts of Endocrine Disruption in Fish living in UK Rivers. CIWEM, Nottingham. Keynote. 2006 Testicular disruption in fish as a consequence of exposure to oestrogenic effluents. International Meeting on Testicular Function, Germany. Keynote

 

2006 Population Level Impacts of Endocrine Disruption in Fish in UK Rivers. 23rd International Meeting for the European Society for Comparative Endocrinology. Keynote.

 

2006 Endocrine Disruption in Fish, Looking Back, Looking Forward. University of Florida, Florida. 2006 Chemical Disruption of Sex – Causation, Mechanisms and Population Implications , Temsek, Singapore. 2005 Disruption of Sexual Function in Fish. Research Forum on Environmental Risk Assessment, USA Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, USA. Keynote.

 

2005 Molecular mechanisms of sexual disruption in fish. 15th Annual Meeting of SETAC-Europe, Lille, France. 2005 Ecosystem Level Impacts of Endocrine Disruption in UK Rivers. 8th International Symposium on Endocrine Active Substances, Okinawa, Japan. Keynote.

 

2004 The Application of Genomics to Environmental Toxicology. The UK Environment Agency’s National Programme on Genomics in Ecotoxicology

 

2004 Integrated Molecular Approaches for Identifying Individual and Population Level Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Fish. The Gordon Conference, New England, USA.

 

2004 The Application of Transcriptomics to Unravel the Mechanisms of Sexual Disruption in Fish. Research Councils UK and Long Range Initiative Forum, Brussels, Belgium. Keynote.

 

2003 Molecular approaches for unravelling endocrine disruption in Fish. International Symposium for SETAC,York, UK.

 

2003 A search for evidence of endocrine disruption of sexual development in top predatory fish.. UKJapan Symposium on Endocrine Disruption, York, UK.

 

2003 Environmental toxicology and the use of fish as models in toxicology. Worldwide consortium for the development of genomics in fish, Liverpool, UK.

 

2003 Endocrine Disruption in Roach in UK Rivers - A Case history and Future Perspectives. 6th International Symposium on Endocrine Disruption, Sendai-Japan. Keynote.

 

2003 Endocrine disruption in fish in UK Rivers. Forum for Freshwater Research, London, UK. Keynote 2003 Genes, Sex and Gender Bending Chemicals – The Feminisation of Nature. University of Anantapur, India.

 

2002 Endocrine Disruption in UK Freshwaters - The Story Today. Society for Experimental Biology, Swansea.

 

2002 Sexual Disruption in Fish in UK Freshwaters - The Environment Agency's Strategy launch for research direction and policy on endocrine disrupting chemicals, Bristol. Keynote.

 

2002 Feminisation of fish in UK freshwaters - The Phenomenon and Consequences. Washington University, Seattle, USA. 2002 Endocrine Disruption in Vertebrates. 21st Conference of European Comparative Endocrinologists, Bonn, Germany. Keynote.

 

2002 Community Strategy for Endocrine Disruptors. Invited European Commission Address, Brussels, Belgium. Keynote. 2002 Endocrine Disruption in Fish- Status and Perspectives. Swiss Society for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Zurich, Switzerland. Keynote.

 

2002 Application of Genomics to Environmental Toxicology. Workshop speaker and co-organiser, Pensacola, Florida

 

2002 Endocrine Disruption in Freshwater Fish. International Symposium on Endocrine Active Substances, Yokohama, Japan. Keynote.

 

2001 The Causes and Mechanisms of Sexual Disruption in Fish. 45th NIBBS Meeting, Okazaki-Japan. Keynote.

 

2001 Endocrine Disruption in European Wildlife. Second Status Seminar on Endocrine Disrupters. Berlin Germany. Keynote.

 

2001 Endocrine Disrupting Effects of UK Treated Sewage Effluents: What we know, What we don't know, and What we are trying to find out. UKWIR Symposium on Endocrine Disruption, London. Keynote.