Research PG
- About
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- Email Address
- l.smeaton.21@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Biological Sciences
Biography
As every other paper in the field of fish farming will inform you, aquaculture represents an ever-growing and ever-more vital area of the food production sector on a global scale. From the high-value salmonids to the lower-valued carps, the importance of each area and the supporting industries cannot be overstated.
To this field, in 2014 I began a BSc in Marine Biology at the University of Stirling, following a lifelong desire to know more about the aquatic world. During my 2nd year of studies, I then made the decision to switch to studying the internationally renowned Aquaculture course for a number of reasons - the expertise from the staff, the focused angle of production, and the humanitarian aspect relating to global food production. Following this course, I immediately followed with an MSc in Aquatic Pathobiology, following an interest in disease that has buoyed my scientific career forwards.
In 2021 I began a PhD with the University of Aberdeen in collaboration with Cefas, currently titled "Identifying host dependence factors of carp viruses: Genomic responses and cell line development", joining the Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre under Professor Sam Martin.
My interests are primarily in disease, particularly within fish farming systems.
Qualifications
- 2:1 Aquaculture2018 - University of Stirling
- Merit Aquatic Pathobiology2019 - University of Stirling
- Research
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Research Overview
My research currently is in the field of virology, specifically:
- Host dependence factors
- Immune responses in teleosts
- Primary cell culture
- Gene editing within cell lines.
Current Research
My current PhD project is in the identification of host factors associated with Carp Edema Virus and variant Cyprinid Herpesvirus-3 infection in Cyprinus carpio, and how this can be leveraged to generate permissive cell lines.