MR LAURIE SMEATON

MR LAURIE SMEATON
MR LAURIE SMEATON
MR LAURIE SMEATON

Research PG

About
Email Address
l.smeaton.21@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
220 Zoology Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
Tillydrone Avenue
AB24 2TZ

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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 Aquaculture 
    2018 - University of Stirling 
  • Merit Aquatic Pathobiology 
    2019 - University of Stirling 
Research

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.