MRC New Investigator (Better Methods, Better Research)

NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, Respiratory Medicine

Supervisory Board Representative UK Reproducibility Network

Only Good Antibodies Co-founder

Publications 2023-2024

1. *Biddle, Michael, et al."Improving the integrity and reproducibility of research that uses antibodies: a technical, data sharing, behavioral and policy challenge", mAbs (2024), 16:1, https://doi.org/10.1080/19420862.2024.2323706
2.  Tsaknis, G; Virk H. "Assessment of solitary pulmonary nodule", BMJ Best Practice (2024).  (Online Resource)
3. Ayoubi, Riham, et al. "Scaling of an antibody validation procedure enables quantification of antibody performance in major research applications." eLife 12:RP91645. (2023) https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.91645.2 (lead UK author - designed analysis and contributed resources)
4. *Biddle, Michael and Virk, Harvinder S.” YCharOS Open Antibody Characterisation Data: Lessons Learned and Progress Made.” F1000Research 12 (2023). https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.141719.1
5. Kahn, Richard A., Harvinder S. Virk, and Peter S. McPherson. "Heed a decade of calls for antibody validation." Nature 620.7974 (2023): 492. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02566-w
6. **Aponte Santiago, Nicole, et al. "Tales of the unexpected." eLife 12 (2023): e87444. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.87444
7. Alshalfie W, Biddle M, Fotouhi M et al. The identification of high-performing antibodies for FUS (Uniprot ID: P35637)  for use in western blot, immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence and flow cytometryF1000Research 2024, 12:376 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.133220.3
8. Richard A Kahn, Harvinder Virk, Carl Laflamme et al. "Science Forum: Antibody characterization is critical to enhance reproducibility in biomedical research" eLife 13:e100211 (2024) https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.100211 
9. Biddle MS, Alende C, Fotouhi M et al. A guide to selecting high-performing antibodies for Synaptotagmin-1 (Uniprot ID P21579) for use in western blot, immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. F1000Research 2024, 13:817 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.154034.1
       

**Co-first author *Senior author

Preprints

1. Leavy, Olivia, et al. "Genome-wide SNP-sex interaction analysis of susceptibility to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis." medRxiv (2024).01.12.24301204; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.12.24301204
2. Ayoubi, Riham, et al. A consensus platform for antibody characterization, 11 April 2024, PROTOCOL (Version 1) available at Protocol Exchange https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.pex-2607/v1 (lead UK author)

Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership - Antibody Validation Masterclass

PhD studentship adverts:

Discovery of biomarkers and distinct pathways of fibrotic and inflammatory drivers of Interstitial Lung Diseases

Interstitial lung diseases are a diverse group of inflammatory and fibrotic disorders, some of which are progressive, that lead to disabling symptoms and have limited treatment options. The current treatments broadly fit into the categories of supportive care, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic. Selecting patients for appropriate treatments is very challenging, expensive and inefficient. Biomarkers that predict response to specific treatment strategy, and a better understanding of the specific pathways that differentiate inflammatory and fibrotic signalling are urgently needed.

In this project the student will use available proteomic data, cell culture and lung tissue models to define: signalling pathways that are activated by pro-inflammatory mediators and pro-fibrotic mediators. The results of this work will be empowered towards patient benefit by developing robust immunoassays, in collaboration with industry, to enable the measurement of these signalling pathways in patient samples. The student will then use quantitative mass spectroscopy to validate these assays in patient samples and begin to explore their potential use to inform treatment strategies in the Leicester Respiratory Cohort study. This is a clinical cohort study of patients with ILDs, and the student will be encouraged to contribute to this larger clinical study as appropriate.

Development of a robust, validated, non-animal derived toolbox to study the ageing immune system

Many developed and developing countries are experiencing a rapid demographic shift towards an ageing society. The immune system of older individuals is more susceptible to severe infections, poor vaccine responses, cancer, and inflammation. Understanding how the immune system ages is critical to overcoming these key challenges in our ageing populations. This project aims to develop a toolbox that enables the study of immune system changes as people age, and identifying ways of measuring the biological age of the immune system. These are called biomarkers of ageing – and the availability of reliable markers is a major barrier to discovery of interventions that can slow ageing. This project will address this challenge using a multidisciplinary approach with collaborators in bioinformatics, proteomics, molecular biology and industry. The assay systems developed will have scientific, commercial, and societal value. 

Current projects/ funding:-

MRC Better Methods, Better Research New Investigator Grant (PI)- ICF Improving the integrity, reproducibility, and usability of biomedical research that utilises commercial antibodies

NIHR INSPIRE Network INDEX (Interstitial Lung Disease Exacerbation) Study - National observational study to understand heterogeneity in care, management and outcomes of acute exacerbations of ILD

Biomarker discovery and target validation utilising the YCharOS antibody characterisation pipeline. Medical Research Council (Leicester) 2024-02 to 2024-11 | Locally awarded MRC Impact Accelerator with support from Leicester Drug Discovery and Diagnostics (PI)

The Only Good Antibodies Community Stakeholder Engagement Meeting. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Swindon). 2023-06 to 2024-03 | Locally awarded BBSRC Impact Accelerator, Event (PI)

Knowledge and skills exchange to lay the foundations for the international expansion of YCharOS: an Open Science, third party antibody characterisation public good company. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council IAA (Swindon). 2023-06 to 2024-03 | Locally awarded BBSRC Impact Accelerator, Exchange (PI)

Using fluorescent biosensors to understand mechanisms of lung ageing. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Swindon).(Co-PI) 2023-06 to 2024-03 | Locally awarded BBSRC Impact Accelerator, Proof of concept

https://leicesterbrc.nihr.ac.uk/hdv/

F1000 Open Thinking

eLife Digest

Nature Feature