The Epithelial Research Group (ERG) at Newcastle is recognised as an international centre for excellence in epithelial research. Epithelia have fundamental roles in eukaryote biology acting as the boundaries between the organism and the outside world and also between separate bodily compartments. Epithelia control the movement of all essential organic and inorganic solutes, nutrients, drugs and excretory products between physiological compartments. Epithelia also act as physical and functional barriers against pathogens entering the body. Their importance is emphasised by the large number of diverse disease states that result from epithelial dysfunction notably those involving disruption of solute transport via membrane transporters and ion channels.
Our mission is to understand epithelial processes at the cellular and molecular level and how their function and dysfunction relates to the whole organism in vivo. Over the past ten years we have assembled in Newcastle a group of active researchers who can deploy a variety of methodologies ranging from sophisticated electrophysiological techniques through to whole organism physiology.
Contact details can be found using the links above.
Alternatively contact the ERG convenor Dr Mike Gray at m.a.gray@ncl.ac.uk
Members of the Epithelial Research Group are drawn from a number of Institutes within the Faculty of Medical Sciences including the Institute for Cell & Molecular Biosciences, the Institute of Genetic Medicine, the Institute of Cellular Medicine and the School of Dental Sciences.