Georgina Louise HOLD

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St George & Sutherland Clinical School,  UNSW Medicine 

UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA

 

Physical Address:

Level 2, Clinical Sciences (WR Pitney) Building,

St George Hospital

Short Street, Kogarah, NSW 2017

E-Mail: georgina.hold@unsw.edu.au

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PERSONAL DATA

Name: Georgina Louise HOLD
Date of birth: February 28, 1973, Newark upon Trent, UK

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CURRENT POSITION

Senior Lecturer in Gastroenterology

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PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND ACADEMIC CAREER:

• PhD – University of Glasgow (1999)

• Senior Lecturer – University of Aberdeen (2010 - )

• Senior Research Scientist – University of Aberdeen (2001 – 2010)

• Postoctoral Research Scientist – Rowett Research Institute (1999-2001)

 

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES

Gut Editorial Board Member (2011 - onwards).

 

MEMBERSHIP IN SOCIETIES / MEMBER OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES:

United European Gastroenterology Education Committee member. Working group member for Bowel Cancer UK Critical Research Gaps in Bowel (Colorectal) Cancer project (2016 onwards)

 

CLINICAL AND/OR SCIENTIFIC (RESEARCH) INTERESTS:

The overall objective in my research is to understand the impact of gastrointestinal microbes in human diseases. In particular, I am interested in understanding the interactions between resident microbes and their host and how changes in the microbiota impact on human health. Developing greater understanding in this area will allow us to further appreciate the contribution that gut microbes play in diseases and potentially develop therapeutic strategies to maintain healthy microbial consortia. Through my research I have created an internationally renowned centre for microbiome analysis. I have focussed on a) developing robust protocols for collecting and processing the most clinically relevant samples, and b) ensuring the science is clinically driven. By retaining this focus, I have contributed significantly to understanding the role of the gut microbiome in colonic disease. My group was the first to identify an over-representation of epsilon Proteobacteria (non-pylori Helicobacter and emerging Campylobacter) in ulcerative colitis. From these initial studies an extensive research programme looking at the role of specific pathogenic organisms in colonic disease has been established. I am a leading authority on emerging Campylobacter and head an international effort to whole genome sequence clinical strains in order to understand their role in intestinal disease. My Fulbright scholarship was awarded to support my dedicated period of research on emerging Campylobacter organisms and their role in cancer development. My group was the first to publish a detailed assessment of the paediatric gut microbiota in treatment naive de-novo presenting children with IBD and demonstrate that changes in microbial diversity in established disease are not present at disease onset. I am also involved in a number of external collaborations. I am a key partner within the UK IBD genetics research consortia and lead all aspects of research relating to microbiome work, with all microbiome analysis centralised through my laboratory. The main challenges in gut microbiome research over the coming years relate to defining the metabolic capabilities of the gut microbiota, the effect of therapeutic regimens on the gut microbiota and ultimately identifying how to manipulate these factors to promote/maintain health. This requires multi-disciplinary research strategies harnessing clinicians, microbiologists, nutritionists, epidemiologists, bioinformaticians and also public health analysts.

 

OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Raju, D., Hussey, S., Ang, M., Terebiznik, M.R., Sibony, M., Gupta, V., Blanke, S.R., Delgado, A., Romero-Gallo, J., Ramjeet, M.S., Mascarenhas, H., Peek, R.M., Correa, P., Streuker, C., Hold, G.L., Kunstmann, E., Yoshimori, T., Silverberg, M.S., Girardin, S.E., Philpott, D.J., El-Omar, E.M. and Jones, N. 2012. Bacterial and host genetic factors alter autophagy and susceptibility to Helicobacter pylori infection in humans. Gastroenterology 142(5):1160-71.

• Palmer, A., Lochhead, P., Hold G.L., Rabkin, C.S., Vaughan, T., Lissowska, J., Chow, W-H., Berry, S.H. and El-Omar, E.M. 2012. Genetic variation in C20orf54, PLCE1 and MUC1 and risk of upper gastrointestinal cancers in Caucasian populations. European Journal of Cancer Prevention Nov;21(6):541-4.

• Hansen, R., Russell, R.K., Reiff, C., Louis, P., McIntosh, F., Berry, S.H., Mukhopadhya, I., Bissett, W.M., Barclay, A.R., Bishop, J., Flynn, D.M., McGrogan, P., Loganathan, S., Mahdi, G., El-Omar, E.M. and Hold, G.L. 2012. Microbiota of de-novo pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: Increased Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in Crohn’s disease. American Journal of Gastroenterology Dec;107(12):1913-22.

• Smith, C., Lochhead, P., Basavaraju, U., Hold, G.L., Fyfe, N., Murray, G.I. and El-Omar, E.M. 2012. Lack of association between the PSCA rs2294008 polymorphism, or PSCA expression, and Colorectal Neoplasia. BMC Gastroenterology research notes 5:371.

• Hansen, R., Berry, S.H., Mukhopadhya, I., Thomson, J.M., Saunders, K.A., Nicholl, C.E., Bissett, W.M., Loganathan, S., Mahdi, G., Kastner-Cole, D., Barclay, A.R., Bishop, J., Flynn, D.M., McGrogan, P., Russell, R.K., El-Omar, E.M. and Hold, G.L. 2013. The Microaerophilic Microbiota of De-Novo Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The BISCUIT Study. PLoS One 8(3):e58825.

• McLean, M.H., Thomson, A., Murray, G.I., Fyfe, N., Hold, G.L. and El-Omar, E.M. 2013. Expression of NGAL in colorectal neoplastic progression - a marker of malignant potential? British Journal of Cancer 108(12):2537-41.

• Kostic, A.D., Chun, E., Robertson, L., Glickman, J.N., Gallini, C.A., Michaud, M., Clancy, T., Chung, D., Lochhead, P., Hold, G.L., El-Omar, E.M., Brenner, D., Fuchs, C., Meyerson, M. and Garrett, W.S. 2013. Fusobacterium nucleatum potentiates intestinal tumorigenesis and modulates the tumor immune microenvironment. Cell Host Microbe 14(2):207-215.

• Kennedy, N.A., Walker, A.W., Berry, S.H., Duncan, S.H., Farquarson, F.M., Louis, P., Thomson, J.M., UK IBD Genetics consortium, Satsangi, J., Flint, H.J., Lees, C.W. and Hold, G.L. 2014. The impact of different DNA extraction kits and laboratories upon the assessment of human microbiota composition by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. PLoS One 9(2):e88982.

• Adams, A.T., Kennedy, N.A., Hansen, R., Ventham, N.T., OʼLeary, K.R., Drummond, H.E., Noble, C.L., El-Omar, E., Russell, R.K., Wilson, D.C., Nimmo, E.R., Hold, G.L.*, Satsangi, J.* 2014. Two-stage genome-wide methylation profiling in childhood-onset Crohn's Disease implicates epigenetic alterations at the VMP1/MIR21 and HLA loci. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 20(10):1784-93.

• Basavaraju, U., Shebl, F.M., Palmer, A.J., Berry, S., Hold, G.L., El-Omar, E.M., Rabkin, C.S. 2015. Cytokine gene polymorphisms, cytokine levels and the risk of colorectal neoplasia in a screened population of Northeast Scotland. Eur J Cancer Prev 24(4);296-304.

• Hold, G.L., Berry, S., Saunders, K.A., Drew, J., Mayer, C., Brookes, H., Gay, N.J., El-Omar, E.M., Bryant, C.E. 2014. The TLR4 D299G and T399I SNPs Are Constitutively Active to Up-Regulate Expression of Trif-Dependent Genes. PLoS One 9(11):e111460.

• Hijazi, K., Lowe, T., Meharg, C., Berry, S.H., Foley, J., Hold, G.L. 2014. Mucosal microbiome changes in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis. J Dent Res 94(3 Suppl):87S-94S.

• Mukhopadhya, I., Hansen, R., Meharg, C., Thomson, J., Russell, R.K., Berry, S.H., El-Omar, E.M., Hold, G.L. 2014. The fungal microbiota of de-novo paediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Microb Infect  17(4):304-310.

• Hijazi, K., Cuppone, A.M., Smith, K., Stincarelli, M.A., Ekeruche-Makinde, J., De Falco, G., Hold, G.L., Shattock, R., Kelly, C.G., Pozzi, G., Iannelli, F. 2015. Expression of genes for drug transporters in the human female genital tract and modulatory effect of antiretroviral drugs. PLoS One 10(6):e0131405.

• Hansen, R., Scott, K.P., Khan, S., Martin, J.C., Berry, S.H., Stevenson, M., Okpapi, A., Munro, M.J., Hold, G.L 2015. First-Pass Meconium Samples from Healthy Term Vaginally-Delivered Neonates: An Analysis of the Microbiota. PLoS One 10(7):e0133320.

• Mukhopadhya, I., Murray, G.I., Berry, S.H., Thomson, J.M., Bruce, F., Gwozdz, G., Ekeruche-Makinde, J., Shattock, R., Kelly, C., Francesco, I., Pozzi, G., El-Omar, E.M., Hold, G.L.* and Hijazi, K.* 2015. Drug transporter gene expression in human colorectal tissue and cell lines: Modulation with antiretrovirals for microbicide optimization. J. Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 71:372-86.

• Liu, J.Z., van Sommeren, S., Huang, H., Ng, S.C., Alberts, R., Takahashi, A., Ripke, S., Lee, J.C., Jostins, L., Shah, T., Abedian, S., Cheon, J.H., Cho, J., Daryni, N.E., Franke, L., Fuyuno, Y., Hart, A., Juyal, R.C., Juyal, G., Kim, W.H., Morris, A.P., Poustchi, H., Newman, W.G., Midha, V., Orchard, T.R., Vahedi, H., Sood, A., Sung, J.J., Malekzadeh, R., Westra, H.J., Yamazaki, K., Yang, S.K., et al. (Hold. G.L. – as part of the IBD Genetics Consortium). 2015. Association analyses identify 38 susceptibility loci for inflammatory bowel disease and highlight shared genetic risk across populations. Nature Genetics 47(9):979-86.

• Mukhopadhya, I., Murray, G.I., Duncan, L., Yuecel, R., Shattock, R., Kelly, C., Iannelli, F., Pozzi, G., El-Omar, E.M., Hold, G.L. and Hijazi, K.* 2016. Transporters for Antiretroviral drugs in colorectal CD4+ T cells and circulating a4b7 integrin CD4+ T cells: Implications for HIV microbicides. Mol. Pharm. 13(9):3334-3340. 

• Mukhopadhya, I., Murdoch, H., Berry, S.H., Hunt, A., Iturriza-Gomara, M., Smith-Palemr, A., Cameron, C. and Hold, G.L. 2016. Changing molecular epidemiology of rotavirus infection after introduction of monovalent rotavirus vaccination in Scotland. Vaccine S0264-410X(16)31075-1. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.11.028.

• Watt, E., Gemmell, M.R., Berry, S.H., Glaire, M., Farquharson, F., Louis, P., Murray, G.I., El-Omar, E.M. and Hold, G.L. 2016. Extending colonic mucosal microbiome analysis - Assessment of colonic lavage as a proxy for endoscopic colonic biopsies. Microbiome 4(1):61.

• Review articles published in last 5 years:

• Mukhopadhya, I., Hansen, R., El-Omar, E.M. and Hold, G.L. 2012. IBD: What role do Proteobacteria play?  Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21;9(4):219-30.

• Hold, G.L., Smith, M., Grange, C., Watt, E.R., El-Omar, E.M. and Mukhopadhya, I. 2014. Role of the gut microbiota in IBD pathogenesis: what have we learnt in the past 10 years? World Journal of Gastroenterology 20(5):1192-1210.

• Mactier, K.E., Glaire, M.A., Basavaraju, U., El-Omar, E.M. and Hold, G.L. 2014. MicroRNAs in gastrointestinal malignancy: a tool in cancer prevention? European Journal of Cancer Prevention 23(6):540-549.

• Folmer, F., Basavaju, U., Jaspars, M., Hold, G.L., El-Omar, E.M., Dicato, M. and Diederich, M. 2014. Anticancer effects of bioactive berry compounds. Phytochem Rev 13:295-322.

• Louis, P., Hold, G.L., and Flint, H.J. 2014. Gut microbiota, metabolites and colon cancer. Nature Reviews Microbiology 12(10):661-672.

• Hold, G.L. and Garrett, W.S. 2015. Microbiota organisation – a key to understanding CRC development. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology news and views 12(3):128-129.

• Marchesi, J.R., Adams, D.A., Fava, F., Hermes, G.D.A., Hirschfield, G.M., Hold, G.L., Quraishi, M.N., Kinross, J., Smidt, H., Tuohy, K.M., Thomas, L.V., Zoetendal, E.G., and Hart, A. 2015. The gut microbiota and host health: A new clinical frontier. Gut 65(2):330-339. Hold, G.L. 2016 Gastrointestinal microbiota and colon cancer. Dig. Dis. 34(3):244-250.-