Alasdair Nisbet
(PhD, FRES)Job Title:
Board member - Pentlands Science Park
Staff ORCID ID:
0000-0002-4965-5396
Contact Email:
alasdair.nisbet@moredun.ac.uk
Contact Number:
0131 4455 111
Address:
Moredun Research Institute,
Pentlands Science Park,
Bush Loan,
Penicuik,
Midlothian EH26 0PZ
Job Role
Alasdair serves as Deputy Director of Moredun Research Institute and was formerly Head of Department for Vaccines and Diagnostics at MRI. He is responsible for shaping the Institute’s scientific strategy in the development of innovative vaccines and diagnostic tools targeting livestock diseases. He oversees multidisciplinary teams focused on combating endemic livestock diseases caused by parasitic pathogens, driving translational research from laboratory to field application.
He is also Chief Scientific Officer of Wormvax Australia, the company behind Barbervax™—the world’s only commercially available vaccine targeting a helminth parasite in sheep. Alasdair has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and currently manages more than £5 million in active research funding, collaborating with international partners across academia and industry.
Alasdair holds a BSc in Agricultural Zoology and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow. Following postdoctoral research at the University of Aberdeen, University of Cambridge and the University of Melbourne, he joined Moredun Research Institute in 2004.
Biography
Alasdair graduated from the University of Glasgow with a BSc in Agricultural Zoology and a PhD in Biochemistry. After postdoctoral appointments at the University of Aberdeen and University of Melbourne, he came to work at Moredun in 2004.
Over the last 30 years, his research focus has been on novel methods of controlling pests and parasites with an emphasis on understanding and exploiting the unique physiology of parasites of veterinary significance, in particular by understanding their interactions with the host to produce novel vaccines. This has included successful development of prototype vaccines for sheep scab, poultry red mites and gastrointestinal nematodes.
He is Chief Scientific Officer of Wormvax Australia, a company which developed, manufacture and market the only commercially-available vaccine to control a helminth parasite of sheep (“Barbervax™”). He has published >150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and currently holds >£5M in research funding as principal investigator or as a co-investigator with a range of colleagues internationally.
Current Research
Current research is focused on three main areas:
1) The development of recombinant subunit vaccines to control gastrointestinal helminths of ruminant livestock, with collaborators in Europe and Australia
2) Understanding the biology of, and developing novel methods of controlling poultry red mites, with collaborators in the UK and Europe
3) Developing novel diagnostics and vaccines for sheep scab mite, with collaborators in the UK.
Selected Publications
- Daniel R. G. Price,
- Kathryn Bartley,
- Damer P. Blake,
- Eleanor Karp-Tatham,
- Francesca Nunn,
- Stewart T. G. Burgess,
- Alasdair J. Nisbet,
- Liu, W.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Mitchell, M.,
- Burgess, S.T.G.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
- Babayan, S.A.,
- David Smith,
- Daniel R. G. Price,
- Alison Burrells,
- Marc N. Faber,
- Katie A. Hildersley,
- Cosmin Chintoan-Uta,
- Ambre F. Chapuis,
- Mark Stevens,
- Karen Stevenson,
- Stewart T. G. Burgess,
- Elisabeth A. Innes,
- Alasdair J. Nisbet,
- Tom N. McNeilly,
- Cortes, A.,
- Wills, J.,
- Su, X.,
- Hewitt, R.E.,
- Robertson, J.,
- Scotti, R.,
- Price, D.R.G.,
- Bartley, Y.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Krause, L.,
- Powell, J.J.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- Cantacessi, C.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Price, D.R.G.,
- Oliver, E.M.,
- Bartley, Y.,
- Mitchell, M.,
- Palarea-Albaladejo, J.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Frew, D.,
- Burgess, S.T.G.,
- Wright, H.,
- Bartley, D.J.,
- Bartley, Y.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- Burgess, S.T.G.,
- Nunn, F.,
- Nath, M.,
- Frew, D.,
- Wells, B.,
- Marr, E.J.,
- Huntley, J.F.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Wildblood, L.A.,
- Morrison, A.A.,
- Bartley, D.J.,
- Bartley, Y.,
- Longhi, C.,
- McKendrick, I.J.,
- Palarea-Albaladejo, J.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
