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Phil Knight

Portrait of Phil Knight
  • Director of Research 

Teaching

  • Part 1: Pathology: Introduction to Human Disease
  • Part 2: Endocrinology; Immunology
  • Part 3: Mammalian Reproduction; Selected Topics in Endocrinology and Endocrine Disease; Therapeutics 3; Cancer.

Research centres and groups

Member of the Impact, Enterprise and Outreach

  • Case Studies: Development of an ultra-sensitive immunoassay for Inhibin-A and its utility as a clinical screening marker for Down's syndrome.
  • Joint Holder of licensed patent (GB 97/01880; Diagnosis of Pre-eclampsia)
  • Purification of bioactive protein for a commercial supplier  

Research projects

  • Funding primarily from BBSRC, MAFF (now DEFRA);
  • 13 major grants (£3.3M) over career; PI on 10 successive BBSRC grants (1987-2012).
  • Supervision of 20 PhD and 2 MSc students
  • Understanding the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and regulation of fertility in mammals and birds
  • Interactions between endocrine and intra-ovarian factors that regulate ovarian follicle development and steroidogenesis (primarily bovine model).
  • Development of immunoassays for bioactive peptides, proteins and steroids
  • Purification of ovarian peptides (inhibins, activins, follistatins)

Awards and honours

Esteem Factors

  • H-index 40
  • 13 invited conference presentations
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Endocrinology journal (1992-2005)
  • BBSRC Animal Sciences Committee (co-opted member 2001-2005)
  • MAFF Research and Development Review Panel: Reproduction (1998)
  • BBSRC targeted priority studentship committee member (2006)
  • External referee for BBSRC and MRC - Quinquennial assessment of the Human Reproductive Sciences
  • Patent with ISIS Innovation Ltd, University of Reading and Oxford Brookes University. Inventors: Groome, Knight, Ledger, Muttukrishna and Redman. Title of patent: 'Diagnosis of Pre-Eclampsia'. British Patent Application number 9614615.4, International Patent Application on the above patent (PCT/GB97/01880). The Patent was licenced by Oxford Bio-Innovations

Professional bodies/affiliations

International Collaborators

  • Prof JH Roche (UCD; Dublin)
  • Prof JJ Ireland (MSU, Michigan, USA)
  • Dr JC Mariana and Dr M Blanc (INRA, Nouzilly, France)
  • Dr D Vanmontfort and Prof E DeKuypere (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)
  • Dr TJ Parkinson (Massey University, New Zealand)
  • Dr AC Evans (UCD, Dublin)
  • Dr W Holtz (University of Goettingen, Germany)
  • Dr R Butler (Cornell University, USA)
  • Professor V Padmanabahn (University of Michigan, USA)
  • Prof RJ Rodgers (University of Adelaide, Australia)
  • Prof R Ivell (Leibnitz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dumersdorf, Germany)
  • Dr RA Bathgate (Howard Florey Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia)

National Collaborators

  • Prof NP Groome (Oxford Brookes)
  • Dr M Mihm (Glasgow University)
  • Dr PA Fowler and Prof Alan Templeton (Aberdeen University)
  • Dr JE Webley and Prof JP Hearn (Institute of Zoology, London)
  • Dr HM Charlton, FRS and Dr M Abel (Oxford University)
  • Prof Sir N Wald (St Barts, London)
  • Dr J Lockwood (Oxford University)
  • Prof WR Robertson (University of Manchester)

Publications

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