Nexxus Scotland

Hume, David

Director of the Roslin Institute and Research Director of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Professor of Mammalian Functional Genomics at the University of Edinburgh

Professor David Hume is an international authority on genome sciences, especially specialised cells of the immune system in infection, inflammatory disease and cancer.

An Australian by birth, Professor Hume has worked all over the world; completing his undergraduate and PhD training at the Australian National University in Canberra (including a year in Germany) before a career that included Oxford, Canberra, Houston, Brisbane, Japan, Seattle and Columbus.  He cites Simon Gordon at the WIlliam Dunn  School of pathology as a key mentor who shaped a career focussed on macrophages, key cells of the immune system.

He came to Edinburgh in 2007, saying that the Roslin Institute provides "The opportunity to do something special. The work here in animal sciences is truly world leading, not just world class."  
 
The Roslin Institute is a BBSRC Institute associated with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, the top ranked Veterinary School for research in the UK.  The Roslin Institute is also a member of the Easter Bush Research Consortium (EBRC) with partners the Moredun Institute and Scottish Agriculture College.  Professor Hume says, "Together, we really are a one-stop shop for everything from basic animal science to field epidemiology; it is unique in the world".

Professor David Hume describes 21st century genomics research as being like putting a Boeing 747 back together from each of its individual nuts, bolts and systems.

"We are about twenty years on from gene cloning and being able to identify one gene at a time. The challenge now is to disassemble to single genes then work out how to put the components and interactions back together. We are now working with thousands of genes at a time. This is essential for us to understand the purpose and interactions of cells and how control processes work." 

Much of Professor Hume's work surrounds increasing holistic understanding of what goes wrong when the positive impact of macrophages - large white blood cells which are a key part of the body's immune system - can also become part of the problem in causing or exacerbating diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and various cancers. 

At the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh however, he feels the potential for international collaboration in his chosen field truly comes together. "The concentration of resources around Roslin and Dick Veterinary School provides an interdisciplinary pool which is hugely exciting. It would be fair to say I'm like a kid in a toyshop working here.

"There's a powerful community of macrophage scientists in Scotland working on trans-genesis in animals. Many diseases translate to the human clinic as well and it's wonderful to work with world leading scientists such as Sir John Savill, head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary medicine at the University of Edinburgh."

Significant investment is now coming to fruition and the ground has already been cut for a brand new £60m facility to accommodate around 500 scientists from the Roslin and the Scottish Agricultural College. Based at the University of Edinburgh's Easter Bush Veterinary Campus, the planned building, designed to resemble a pair of chromosomes, is due to be completed by the end of 2010.

The ongoing challenge he says is to exploit the incredible opportunities for the commercial sector which are emerging from research at the Roslin and its partners. "Commercial opportunities in Animal Sciences in Scotland remain underutilized but significant threats like global climate change and the need for food security are really throwing a new focus on this area and Scotland's world-leading expertise.   

"The development of new livestock breeds, and more disease resistant breeds in particular has huge implications for the human population all over the world."

And Professor Hume points out that understanding  animals at a genomic level is equally relevant to  human medicine, highlighting that dogs suffer from heart and lung disease, chickens get hypertension and sheep suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.

In developing understanding of these conditions at genomic level, it is clear that this knowledge can advance understanding across many clinical platforms.        

Professor Hume is upbeat. "We are only now starting to see the benefits of developing therapeutics systems in species other than mice. The Biomedical community knows that mice "lie".  We have the opportunity and skill to work on animals that are more predictive of human biology, and worthy of study in their own right.  There is not a lot of point in curing cancer in mice!"

In fact, as an Australian, his only criticisms are the Scottish weather and Scots' failure to comprehend cricket. But even world leading research scientists can't have everything.  
 

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