Dr Paul Brownbill PhD
Research Fellow
- Email: paul.brownbill@manchester.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)161 701 6973
Maternal & Fetal Health Research Group
University (5th) Research Floor
St Mary's Hospital
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9WL
Role
I am an investigator into human placental physiology and toxicology. My expertise includes transplacental transfer of solute and water, the transplacental paracellular route and the regulation of fetoplacental vascular tone. I am a principal investigator on industrial and charitable (British Heart Foundation) awards, investigating the aetiology of compromised fetoplacental blood flow and the safety of a potential therapy for fetal growth restriction.
I have recently been involved in the scientific co-ordination of an international workshop in Manchester on ex vivo human placental perfusion, which is to be branded as a "Conference Program Event" under the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC). Since the inception of a robust physiological model in the early 1970s, adaptations for particular applications of this laboratory model have been undertaken by different research groups internationally. The workshop will serve an excellent means of sharing ideas, expertise and promoting best perfusion practice on a European scale. It will provide an interdisciplinary cohesion for the exploration of valuable international collaborations and seed multi-centred harmonisation in readiness for appropriate EU funding calls.
A further personal scientific development includes engaging with Maternal & Fetal Health Research Centre, CADET and external colleagues and collaborators to provide pilot data on the potential role of human placental tissue as a test-bed for early-phase toxicological testing of pharmaceuticals and other xenobiotocs to replace the use of animals in research, through the NC3Rs CRACK-IT initiative.
Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies
- Fetal & Neonatal Physiological Society
- International Federation of Placenta Associations
- British Microcirculation Society
Research
- Transplacental paracellular pathways
- Regulation of fetoplacental blood flow
- Regulation of transplacental water and solute transfer
- Signalling in the fetoplacental endothelium
- Toxicological testing
Methodological Knowledge
Ex vivo dual perfusion of the human placenta
Placental endothelial cell physiology
Endothelial cell-flow shear-stress investigation
Phosphoproteome analysis
ELISAs and other assays
Teaching
Project 1 & 2 Supervisor, for MRes in Maternal & Fetal Health and MRes in Translational Medicine
Workshop Tutor & Health & Safety module teacher, for MRes in Maternal & Fetal Health
Supervisor, for FLS intercallating medical student on BSC(HONS) research projects
PI supervisor, MD Student, Dr Fatimah Soydemir, graduated 2009
Joint supervisor with Dr Ian Crocker (PI), PhD student Elizabeth Hutchinsn, graduated 2009
Supervisor for 4 month placement of PhD student, Victoria Genes, graduated 2009 (Imperial College London; PI was Prof Catherine Williamson)
Co-supervisor with Dr Ian Crocker for 3 month placement of PhD student, Dr Nia Jones (University of Nottingham, PIs are Dr George Bugg and Dr Nick Fenning)
Qualifications
BSc(HONS), MPhil, PhD
Collaborators and affiliated staff
Prof Stefan Hansson, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecologyonsultant, Lund University, Sweden.
Prof Henning Schneider, Switzerland.
Dr Rohan Lewis, Lecturer, University of Southampton, UK.
Dr Anna David, Senior Lecturer and Honary Consultant in Obstetrics and Maternal and Fetal Medicine, University College London, UK.
Dr Tim Farries, Ark Therapeutics Ltd, London, UK.
Prof Gernot Desoye, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Prof Catherine Williamson, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Imperial College London.
Publications
2011
- Soydemir F, Kuruvilla S, Brown M, Dunn W, Day P, Crocker IP, Baker PN, Sibley CP, Brownbill P. (2011). Adapting in vitro dual perfusion of the human placenta to soluble oxygen tensions associated with normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancy. Laboratory Investigation, eScholarID:98079 | DOI:10.1038/labinvest.2010.171
2010
- Sibley, C.P., Brownbill, P., Dilworth, M.R. and Glazier, J.D. (2010). Adaptation in Placental Nutrient Supply to Meet Fetal Growth Demand: Implications for Programming. Placenta 31, Supplement A, Trophoblast Research, 24, 5. eScholarID:79265 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2009.12.020
2009
- Hutchinson ES, Brownbill P, Jones NW, Abrahams VM, Baker PN, Sibley CP and Crocker IP. (2009). Utero-placental haemodynamics in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Placenta, 30, 8. eScholarID:79263 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2009.04.011
- Jones, N.W., Hutchinson, E.S., Brownbill, P., Crocker, I.P., Eccles, D., Bugg, G.J. and Raine-Fenning, N.J. (2009). In vitro dual perfusion of human placental lobules as a flow phantom to investigate the relationship between fetoplacental flow and quantitative 3D power doppler angiography. Placenta, 30(2), 6. eScholarID:79261 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2008.11.002
2008
- Brownbill, P., Mills, T.A., Soydemir, D.F. and Sibley, C.P. (2008). Vasoactivity to and endogenous release of vascular endothelial growth factor in the in vitro perfused human placental lobule from pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. Placenta, 29, 6. eScholarID:79260 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2008.08.020
2007
- Brownbill P, McKeeman GC, Brockelsby J, Crocker IP, Sibley CP. (2007). Vasoactive and Permeability Effects of VEGF165 in the Term in vitro Dually Perfused Human Placental Lobule. Endocrinology, 148, 11. eScholarID:1d27826
- Cleal J.K, Brownbill P, Godfrey K.M, Jackson J.M, Jackson A.A, Sibley CP, Hanson M.A, Lewis R.M. (2007). Modification of fetal plasma amino acid composition by placental amino acid exchangers in vitro. Journal of Physiology, 582(2), 12. eScholarID:1d28086
2006
- Brownbill P, Sibley CP. (2006). Regulation of transplacental water transfer: the role of fetoplacental venous tone. Placenta, 27(6-7), 8. eScholarID:1d31710
- Leach, L., Badet, J., Brownbill, P., Harris, L., Keogh, R., Kalionis, B. and Whitley, G. (2006). Endothelium, blood vessels and angiogenesis - a workshop report. Placenta, 27, 4. eScholarID:1d33070
2003
- Brownbill P, Bell NJ, Woods RJ, Lowry PJ, Page NM, Sibley CP. (2003). Neurokinin B is a paracrine vasodilator in the human fetal placental circulation. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab, 88(5), 7. eScholarID:1d6237
2000
- Brownbill P, Mahendran D, Owen D, Swanson P, Thornburg KL, Nelson DM, Sibley CP. (2000). Denudations as paracellular routes for alphafetoprotein and creatinine across the human syncytiotrophoblast. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 278, 7. eScholarID:1d3899
- Ratts, V, Tao, X, Webster, C, Swanson, P, Smith, S, Brownbill, P, Krajewski, S, Reed, J, Tilly, J, Nelson, D. (2000). Expression of BCL-2, BAX and BAK in the trophoblast layer of the term human placenta: a unique model of apoptosis within a syncytium. Placenta, 21(4), 6. eScholarID:1d31486
1998
- Ratts V.S, Tao X.J, Webster C.B, Swanson P.E, Brownbill P, Sibley CP, Reed J.C, Tilly J.L, Nelson D.M. (1998). Regulation of apoptotic cell death within the trophoblastic layer: role of BCL-2, BAX and BAK in the term human placenta. Journal of the Society of Gynecological Investigation, 5 (Supplement) T358, eScholarID:1d28082
- Sibley, CP, Birdsey, T, Brownbill, P, Clarson, L, Doughty, IM, Glazier, JD, Greenwood, SL., Hughes, J, Jansson, T, Mylona, P, Nelson, D, Powell, T. (1998). Mechanisms of maternofetal exchange across the human placenta. Biochem Soc Trans, 26(2), 5. eScholarID:1d16833
1995
- Brownbill P, Edwards D, Jones C, Mahendran D, Owen D, Sibley CP, Johnson R, Swanson P, Nelson D. (1995). Mechanisms of alphafetoprotein transfer in the perfused human placental cotyledon from uncomplicated pregnancy. J Clin Invest, 96(5), 7. eScholarID:1d31487