Nexxus Scotland

Ghazal, Peter

Chair of Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine, and Head of the Division of Pathway Medicine at the University of Edinburgh

Professor Peter Ghazal's research focuses on host-pathogen interactions, in particular, mapping and modelling pathways in infectious diseases.

Professor Ghazal spent the first part of his career in the United States working at world renowned research institutes, National Institute of Health (NIH), part of the United States Department of Health, and the prestigious Scripps Research Institute. There he developed a research interest in the interactions between pathogens and their hosts. He worked alongside some of the most talented scientists in the fields of virology and immunology, establishing a highly productive research team. His work was recognised with a Scholar Award from the Leukemia Society of America.

In 2001 Professor Ghazal moved to Scotland where he founded the Scottish Centre for Genomic Technology and Informatics, which later became the Division of Pathway Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Professor Ghazal is also an associate director of the Centre for Systems Biology in Edinburgh and has been involved in a number of successful commercialisation projects. To date his research has produced three spin out companies: Arrayjet Ltd, Lab 901 Ltd and Fios Genomics Ltd.  

The Division of Pathway Medicine aims to integrate post-genomic science with medicine in order to provide a better understanding of disease processes.  This will provide the basis for the development of new medical innovations for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.

Professor Ghazal says: "We're interested in identifying aspects of host-pathogen interactions which can be treated with drugs. One way of thinking about a virus is that it has shed its genes over time and it ‘borrows' genes from its host. If you can find out which gene it's borrowing you can design a drug specifically to target that gene and therefore the pathogen."

Previous treatments for diseases that use the body's own cells have so far relied on vaccine-type approaches which enable the immune system to destroy infected cells in the body. Part of Professor Ghazal's work is in refining treatment to increase the accuracy of chemical-based drugs.

"If you think of the human body as a building which has one particular room in which a light is on although it should be off - that's your disease," he explains.

"Currently we rely heavily on pharmaceutical drugs to cure diseases. This can be like firing a cannonball at the light switch through the window of the room - you'll put the light out if you aim well when firing, but there will be a lot of incidental damage done to the surrounds. This is why many drugs have awful side effects. We want to find a more efficient way of treating disease, a way to switch off the light without causing damage to the structure of the building.

"For this we need to know how pathogens connect to humans at gene level. The human genome project was only delivered six or seven years ago, and it's told us a lot, but it doesn't teach us how it's all connected. If we can understand who is talking to whom, how and when, then we're much better off."

To achieve this scientific understanding and put it into clinical use, progress is being made in Scotland and globally at bringing together the academic, clinical and pharmaceutical communities. Scotland boasts some excellent long-term research programmes on targeting debilitating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and infections.

Professor Ghazal says: "We collaborate with research teams from Singapore, Africa, Japan and Germany. Research is a global marketplace, and if you want to work at the leading edge you need to be operating internationally. Co-operation and collaboration are key to this. It takes time but it's all about developing trusting relationships with your partners."

Professor Ghazal hopes the research in which he has been a central player will ultimately lead to life-changing therapies.

"I'm always humbled by living systems and their elegant complexity. I hope in my lifetime we'll see a small inkling of how that works."