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Tom Humphrey

 BSc PhD FRCPath

School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool,
'Leahurst', Chester High Road, Neston,
South Wirral, CH64 7TE,
UK.

 Current post(s)

Teaching

  • Veterinary School, Liverpool:
    • BVSc programme: Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health courses, and research electives in Year III.
    •  MSc Veterinary Science.

Research Interests

In the past I have worked in the food industry and the NHS as well as in the University sector, and my research encompasses the applied and the highly fundamental. Before moving to Liverpool as scientific director of the NCZR earlier this year, I was head of the Zoonotic Infections Group (ZIG) at Bristol University, which included the Health Protection Agency’s Food Borne Zoonoses Unit.

My principal research interest is host-pathogen interactions between poultry and Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. and how these are affected by the host responses to the production environment and/or endemic disease, and my work combines animal welfare with classical and molecular microbiology and immunology.

Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. cause ~ 600,000 cases of infection in the UK each year and contaminated egg contents are the major vehicle for the former, as is chicken meat for the latter. My particular interest is invasive disease and how this is influenced by gut microbial ecology and health.

Summary of research achievements:

  • Part of a collaborative Wellcome Trust-funded programme to sequence the genomes of five important Salmonella spp. under the Beowulf Initiative.
  • Demonstration of the unique behaviours of Salmonella Enteritidis in the egg and the hen reproductive tract. This led to the UK egg industry’s policy of vaccinating hens, a major public health measure.
  • Identification of the major risk factors for Campylobacter infection in UK-produced broiler chickens. Information from this Food Standards Agency (FSA)-funded project has been used to direct Government policy and to the UK industry putting in place improved control measures.
  • Demonstration that Campylobacter jejuni, thought to be commensal in chickens, can behave more like an opportunistic pathogen, taking advantage of poor bird health and stress responses, which are a consequence of intensive production. Could ‘happy’ chickens be safer to eat?

Publications: I have produced over 260 publications. These include work on the physiology and stress responses of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp.; infection of hens with Salmonella spp. and the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chicken production.


Other activities

The following are examples of external recognition since 2001:

ACMSF

  • 2001: Member of Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF)
  • 2002: Chairman of ACMSF Surveillance Working Group
  • 2007: Chairman of ACMSF ad hoc Group on Vulnerable Groups
  • Member of the Epidemiology of Food Borne Infections Group (EFIG)

Work for UK Government and EU

  • Since 2001: Reviewer of grant applications for DEFRA, BBSRC, MRC, FSA and Wellcome Trust in the UK and the US and Danish Governments
  • Since 2001: Chairman of Research Review Panels for both FSA and Defra
  • 2007: Invited member of an EU expert group on biocides

BBSRC

  • 2001: Member of BBSRC Visiting Group to the InstituteofAnimal Health
  • 2005: Member of BBSRC Visiting Group to the Institute for Food Researc
  • 2007: Member of BBSRC Committee to consider outputs from the Agri-Food Committee
  • 2009 Member of the BBSRC Animal Systems, Health and Wellbeing Committee (Committee A)

Some recentish publications

  • Humphrey TJ, Baskerville A, Mawer S et al (1989). Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 from the contents of intact eggs: a study involving naturally infected hens. Epidemiology & Infection, 103: 415-423.
  • Humphrey TJ (1990). Public health implications of the infection of egg-laying hens with Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4. World's Poultry Science Journal, 46, 5-13.
  • Humphrey TJ, Whitehead A, Gawler AHL, Henley A and Rowe B (1991). Numbers of Salmonella enteritidis in the contents of naturally contaminated hens' eggs. Epidemiology & Infection, 106, 489-496.
  • Humphrey TJ and Whitehead A (1993). Egg age and the growth of Salmonella enteritidis PT4 in egg contents. Epidemiology & Infection, 111, 209-219.
  • Cogan TA, Domingue G, Lappin-Scott HM, Benson CE, Woodward MJ and Humphrey TJ (2001). Growth of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in artificially contaminated eggs: the effects of inoculum sizes and suspending media. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 150, 1063-1071.
  • Guard-Bouldin, J., Gast, R.K., Humphrey, T.J., Henzler, D.J., Morales, C. and Coles, K.  2004.  Subpopulation Characteristics of Egg-Contaminating Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis as Defined by the Lipopolysaccharide O Chain.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 70, 2756-2763.
  • Hutchison, M.L., Gittins, J., Sparks, A.W., Humphrey, T.J., Burton, C. and Moore, A.  2004.  An assessment of the microbiological risks involved with egg washing under commercial conditions.  Journal of Food Protection, 67, 4-11.
  • Cogan TA, Jorgensen F, Lappin-Scott HM, Benson CE, Woodward MJ, Humphrey TJ. (2004). Flagella and curli fimbriae are important for the growth of Salmonella enterica serovars in hen eggs. Microbiology. 150, 1063-1071.
  • Smith, C.K., Kaiser, P., Rothwell, L., Humphrey, T., Barrow, P.A. and Jones, M.A.  (2005). Campylobacter jejuni-Induced Cytokine Responses in Avian Cells.  Infection and Immunity, 73: 2094-2100.
  • S. A. Bull, V. M. Allen, G. Domingue, F. Jørgensen, J. A. Frost, R. Ure, R. Whyte, D Tinker, J. E. L. Corry, J. Gillard-King,T. J. Humphrey. (2006). Sources of Campylobacter spp. colonising housed broiler flocks during rearing.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72: 645-652.
  • Humphrey, T. and Jørgensen, F.  (2006). Pathogens on meat and infection in animals – Establishing a relationship using campylobacter and salmonella as examples.  Meat Science. 74: 89-97.
  • Humphrey, T.J.  (2006). Are happy chickens safer chickens?  Poultry welfare and disease susceptibility.  British Poultry Science. 47: 379-391.
  • Cogan, T.A., Thomas, A.O., Rees, L.E., Taylor, A.H., Jepson, M.A., Williams, P.H., Ketley, J. and Humphrey, T.J.  (2007).  Norepinephrine increases the pathogenic potential of Campylobacter jejuni.  Gut. 56: 1060-5.
  • Allen, V.M., Bull, S.A., Corry, J.E.L., Domingue, G., Jørgensen, F., Frost, J.A., Whyte, R., Gonzalez, A., Elviss, N. and Humphrey, T.J.  (2007). Campylobacter spp.  contamination of chicken carcasses during processing in relation to flock colonisation.  International Journal of Food Microbiology. 113: 54-61.
  • Rees, L.E., Cogan, T.A., Dodson, A.L., Birchall, M.A., Bailey, M. and Humphrey, T.J.  (2008). Campylobacter and IFNgamma interact to cause a rapid loss of epithelial barrier integrity.  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 14: 303-9.
  • Garner, C.E., Smith, S., Elviss, N.C., Humphrey, T.J., White, P., Ratcliffe, N.M. and Probert, C.S.  (2008). Identification of Campylobacter infection in chickens from volatile faecal emissions.  Biomarkers 13: 413-21.
  • Piddock, L.V.J., Griggs, D., Johnson, M.M., Ricci, V., Elviss, N.C., Williams, L.K., Jørgensen, F., Chisholm, S.A., Lawson, A.J., Swift, C., Humphrey, T.J. and Owen, R.J.  (2008). Persistence of Campylobacter species, strain types, antibiotic resistance and mechanisms of tetracycline resistance in poultry flocks treated with chlortetracycline.  Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 62: 303-15.
  • Smith CK, Abuoun M, Cawthraw SA, Humphrey TJ, Rothwell L, Kaiser P, Barrow PA, Jones MA. (2008). Campylobactercolonization of the chicken induces a proinflammatory response in mucosal tissues. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 54:114-21.
  • Piddock LJ, Griggs D, Johnson MM, Ricci V, Elviss NC, Williams LK, Jørgensen F, Chisholm SA, Lawson AJ, Swift C, Humphrey TJ, Owen RJ. (2008). Persistence ofCampylobacterspecies, strain types, antibiotic resistance and mechanisms of tetracycline resistance in poultry flocks treated with chlortetracycline. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 62: 303-15.
  • Bull SA, Thomas A, Humphrey T, Ellis-Iversen J, Cook AJ, Lovell R, Jorgensen F. (2008). Flock health indicators andCampylobacterspp. in commercial housed broilers reared in Great Britain. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74: 5408-5413.
  • Ellis-Iversen J, Jorgensen F, Bull S, Powell L, Cook AJ, Humphrey TJ. (2009). Risk factors forCampylobactercolonisation during rearing of broiler flocks in Great Britain. Preventative Veterinary Medicine. 89:178-184.
  • Rushton SP, Humphrey TJ, Shirley MD, Bull S, Jørgensen F. (2009). Campylobacterin housed broiler chickens: a longitudinal study of risk factors. Epidemiology and Infection. 137:1099-1110.
  • Elviss NC, Williams LK, Jørgensen F, Chisholm SA, Lawson AJ, Swift C, Owen RJ, Griggs DJ, Johnson MM, Humphrey TJ, Piddock LJ. (2009). Amoxicillin therapy of poultry flocks: effect upon the selection of amoxicillin-resistant commensalCampylobacterspp. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 64:702-711.
  • Gantois I, Ducatelle R, Pasmans F, Haesebrouck F, Gast R, Humphrey TJ, Van Immerseel F. (2009). Mechanisms of egg contamination by Salmonella Enteritidis. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 33:718-38