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4. Colin Hill

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Biography

Colin Hill has a Ph.D in molecular microbiology and is Professor in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork, Ireland. He has been an SFI Principal Investigator since 2002 (renewed in 2006 and 2010). He is also a founding Principal Investigator in the APC Microbiome Institute, a multidisciplinary research centre focusing on the role of gut microbiota in health and disease. His main interests are in bacteriophage, bacteriocins and the role they play in shaping the microbiome and as interventions capable of preventing infectious disease. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and holds 18 patents in this area (in 2017 he had an ISI H factor over 70, Google H factor over 90). More than 50 PhD students have graduated from the laboratory. In 2005 Prof. Hill was awarded a D.Sc by the National University of Ireland in recognition of his contributions to research.  In 2009 he was elected to the Royal Irish Academy, the highest honour for an Irish academic.  In 2010 he was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology and together with his colleagues Prof. Gerald Fitzgerald, Prof. Paul Ross and Dr Catherine Stanton he was awarded the Metchnikoff Prize in Microbiology.  He served as President of ISAPP (International Scientific Association for Prebiotics and Probiotics) from 2012-2015.‍

Research Interests

Research interests and expertise.  Molecular Microbiology, particularly in issues involving infection. Bacteriophages, Bacteriocins (applied and fundamental aspects), Pharmabiotics (bioactives in gut health), Clostridium difficile, antibiotic resistant pathogens

Research Overview.  We participate in APC Microbiome Ireland, a multidisciplinary research centre focusing on the role of gut microbiota in health and disease. Our main interests are in infectious disease, particularly in defining the mechanisms of virulence of foodborne pathogens and in developing strategies to prevent and limit the consequences of microbial infections in the gastrointestinal tract. We are also interested in the role of bacteriocins and bacteriophages as agents to limit the growth of bacteria in food or in the human gut.

Publications

For a complete list of publications please click on this Link 
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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2014	APC Person of the Year	APC
	2011	UCC Commercialisation Award	University College Cork
	2010	UCC Commercialisation Award	University College Cork
	2010	Elected Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology	American Academy of Microbiology
	2010	Metchnikoff Prize for Microbiology	International Dairy Federation
	2009	UCC Commercialisation Award	University College Cork
	2009	Elected Member, Royal Irish Academy	Royal Irish Academy
	2008	UCC Commercialisation Award	University College Cork
	2005	D.Sc	National University of Ireland

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	ILSI Europe Expert Group on 'Mechanisms of Probiotic Action'	Member	2014 /
	European Food Safety Authority GMO Panel	Member	2003 / 2004
	Foot and Mouth Advisory Committee	Member	2002 / 2003
	Food Safety Authority of Ireland GMO Sub-Committee	Chairperson	1997 / 1999
	Food Safety Authority of Ireland Scientific Committee	Member	1992 / 1999

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Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	American Society for Microbiology	Academy Fellow	01-JUN-10 /
	American Academy of Microbiology	Fellow	01-JUN-10 /
	International Association for Pre and Probiotics	Board Member	01-JUN-09 / 01-JUN-15
	Royal Irish Academy	Member	16-MAR-09 /
	Food Safety Authority of Ireland	Scientific Committee	01-JAN-97 / 01-JUN-09

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	UCC	Professor of Microbial Food Safety	01-JAN-08 /
	UCC	Associate Professor	01-JAN-01 / 31-DEC-07
	UCC	Senior Lecturer	01-JAN-92 / 31-DEC-00
	Moorepark	Senior Research Officer	01-JAN-90 / 31-DEC-91

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	2005	UCC	Doctor of Science
	1988	UCC	Ph.D.
	1984	UCC	M.Sc.
	1982	UCC	B.Sc.

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Patents

	Patent Number	Title	Granted
	07/577,954	Bacteriophage resistant recombinant bacteria	01-JAN-10
	07/578,660	Phage defense rotation strategy	01-JAN-10
	PCT/IE96/00022	Bacteriocins.	01-JAN-95
	980499.	An anti-microbial effective against Gram-positive human pathogens	01-JAN-98
	980500	A spray-dried bacteriocin powder with antimicrobial activity	01-JAN-98
	PCT/IE2004/0001	Use of probiotic bacteria for the treatment of infection	01-JAN-05
	S2005/0773.	Antimicrobial Peptides and Bacterial Strains that produce them.	01-JAN-05
	US 20110059060	Thuricin, an antimicrobial specific for Clostridium difficile	31-DEC-10
	WO 2009092790 A	Listeriolysin S as a chemotherapeutic agent	31-DEC-10
	WO 2009092790 A	Screening for Listeriolysin S Listeria Monocytogenes.	31-DEC-10
	WO 2011076903 A	Derivatives of Nisin with enhanced Anti-Microbial Activity.	31-DEC-10

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Other Activities

	Description
	List of Expert Assignments: - Scientific Committee, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, since 1999, Re-appointed 2005. - Microbiology Sub-Committee, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 1996-2005. - Chair, GMO and Novel Food Sub-Committee, since 1997. - GMO Advisory Committee, Environmental Protection Agency, 1998-2001. - Foot and Mouth Expert Advisory Group, Department of Agriculture, 2001-02. - Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare, Department of Agriculture, since 2001. - European Food Safety Authority GMO Panel, 2003-2004. I have acted as External Examiner to more than 20 PhD committees in the UK, The Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.
	I have given over 200 Research Seminars at conferences and as a guest lecturer.

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

Molecular biology of microorganisms of importance in foods.

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Recent Postgraduates

	Graduation Year	Student Name	Institution	Degree Type	Thesis Title
	2014	Alan Marsh	UCC	PHD	IDENTIFICATION & CHARACTERISATION OF NOVEL ANTIMICROBIALS FROM GUT ASSOCIATED MICROORGANISMS.
	2014	Harsh Mathur	UCC	PHD	Thuricin cd: a potential therapeutic targeted against clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad)
	2014	Lorraine Anne Draper	UCC	PHD	Investigation of Lantibiotic regulation, immunity and synergy
	2014	Ruth Morrissey	UCC	PHD	SHINING LIGHT ON FOOD MICROBIOLOGY: APPLICATIONS OF LUCIFERASE-TAGGED MICROORGANISMS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY.
	2014	Eamon Culligan	UCC	PHD	Functional metagenomic analysis of the human gut microbiome to identify novel salt tolerance genes
	2013	Nease Wallace O Leary	UCC	MSc
	2013	Claire Flaherty	UCC	PHD	INVESTIGATION OF GROWTH AND STRESS TOLERANCE CHARATERISTICS OF CRONOBACTER SPP.
	2012	Evelyn Molloy	UCC	PHD	Manipulation of Lantibiotics Using a Bioengineering Approach
	2011	Eileen O Shea	UCC	PHD	An Investigation of Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Intestinal Lactobacillus salivarius Isolates
	2011	James Dalton	UCC	PHD	Detection of Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis and Risk Alleles associated with Crohn’s Disease in an Irish Cohort
	2011	Mary Clare Rea	UCC	PHD
	2011	Srinivasa Suna	UCC	PHD	A Mutagenesis Based Functional Characterisation of the Lantibiotic Lacticin 3147
	2011	Kiera Considine	UCC	PHD	Molecular Mechanisms for Coping with High Pressure in Listeria monocytogenes
	2011	Alleson Elaine Dobson	UCC	PHD	The Impact of the Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Peptide, Lacticin 3147 on Complex Microbial Communities
	2011	Sinead Heuston	UCC	PHD	Molecular Analysis of Isoprenoid Biosynthetic Pathways in Listeria monocytogenes
	2011	Clare Piper	UCC	PHD	Investigating the Use of Natural and Bioengineered Lantibiotics against Clinical Pathogens
	2011	Ian Monk	UCC	PhD
	2010	Katja Klostermann	UCC	PHD
	2010	Barry Collins	UCC	PHD
	2010	Heather McLaughlin	UCC	PHD
	2009	Debbie Watson	UCC	PHD
	2009	Evelyn Clayton	UCC	PHD
	2008	Des Field	UCC	PHD
	2007	Sheila Ryan	UCC	PHD
	2007	Helena Stack	UCC	PHD
	2007	Rose Sexton	UCC	MSc
	2007	Eleanor Ryan	UCC	MSc

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Current Postgraduate Students

	Student	Degree Type
	O Reilly Catherine	Doctoral Degree
	Moloney Eimear Sinead	Masters Degree by Research
	Las Heras Vanessa	Doctoral Degree
	Mazhar Shahneela	Doctoral Degree
	Strain Ronan	Doctoral Degree
	Mc Mahon Aoife	Doctoral Degree
	Guerin Emma	Doctoral Degree
	Mc Hugh Aoife Jane	Doctoral Degree
	Callanan Julie Ellen	Doctoral Degree
	Coughlan Laura Maria	Doctoral Degree
	Uniacke-Lowe Shona Maria	Masters Degree by Research
	Lynch Mary Jane	Doctoral Degree
	Angelopoulou Angeliki	Doctoral Degree
	Sutton Thomas	Doctoral Degree
	Doyle Natasha Jessica	Doctoral Degree
	O Sullivan Julie Noreen	Doctoral Degree
	O Connor Michelle	Doctoral Degree
	Fitzgerald Cormac Brian	Doctoral Degree
	Collins Fergus William John	Doctoral Degree
	Lewis Rhea Joan	Doctoral Degree
	Ellis Jenna-Claire	Doctoral Degree
	Egan Kevin Sean	Doctoral Degree

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Modules Taught

	Term (ID))	Title	Link	Subject
	2020	Microbial Food Safety	MB4611	Microbial Food Safety
	2020	Research Frontiers in Microbiology	MB4027	Research Frontiers in Microbiology
	2020	Microbial Food Safety	MB4011	Microbial Food Safety
	2020	Functional Foods for Health	MB6103	Functional Foods for Health
	2020	Introduction to Food Science and Technology	FS1011	Introduction to Food Science and Technology
	2020	Research Frontiers in Food Microbiology	MB6027	Research Frontiers in Food Microbiology
	2020	Dissertation in Food Microbiology	MB6011	Dissertation in Food Microbiology
	2020	Principles of Microbiology	MB2006	Principles of Microbiology
	2020	Microbial Food Safety	MB4111	Microbial Food Safety
	2020	Research Project	MB4002	Research Project
	2020	Functional Foods for Health	MB6003	Functional Foods for Health
	2020	Food Biotechnology	MB4013	Food Biotechnology
	2020	Food Biotechnology	MB4113	Food Biotechnology
	2020	Library Project in Food Microbiology	MB6006	Library Project in Food Microbiology