Developing imaging tools to study and monitor diseases in the brain
Dr Peter Harvey is a former Nottingham Research Fellow, working across the schools of Medicine and Chemistry. In December 2023 he was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.
What is your position and role at the University?
I’m a Future Leaders Fellow and Assistant Professor, split between the School of Medicine and School of Chemistry. I’ve been at Nottingham since 2019, when I joined as a Nottingham Research Fellow. I’m also the academic lead for preclinical imaging at UoN.
Why did you apply for a Fellowship?
I was originally drawn to Nottingham based on its unique history in imaging and the world-leading research in that area. In the last few years, I’ve really grown to appreciate the open and welcoming attitude of researchers here. We have an exceptionally collaborative research culture on campus, which has helped shaped the research I do and, ultimately, the goals and vision of the fellowship.
Combined with this openness, one of the truly unique aspects of Nottingham is the co-location of expertise and facilities. My group spans the Schools of Chemistry, Medicine, Life Sciences, Psychology, Pharmacy, Physics, and Engineering. For my fellowship, having chemistry labs, the Biodiscovery Institute, a world-leading imaging facility, a research hospital, and preclinical facilities all working next to each other in tandem is vital and something I’ve not experienced anywhere else I’ve worked. It’s something that sets Nottingham apart from other institutes and, while it can at times be difficult to navigate and is under pressure in the current circumstances, it is an aspect we should prize and build on in the future.
We have an exceptionally collaborative research culture on campus, which has helped shaped the research I do and, ultimately, the goals and vision of the fellowship.
How would you explain your research?
The research in my fellowship will focus on developing imaging tools to study and monitor diseases in the brain. Of particular interest is the role our own immune system plays in disease. During Covid-19, there was a lot of discussion in popular media about the negative role of immunity and inflammation in causing the majority of patient symptoms and side effects during pandemic. This situation is the same for most diseases. Our work, therefore, will focus on developing chemical imaging tools for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to allow us to track the development of immune response during disease conditions, with a particular focus on stroke and cancer. Another key area for future expansion of the technique would be neurodegeneration – another set of conditions with clear inflammatory involvement. By using a unique MRI approach that I originally developed during my PhD, we can apply these tools to monitor multiple markers of inflammation and disease simultaneously in the same scan, something very challenging to do with MRI currently.
What inspired you to pursue this area?
Since undertaking a synthetic chemistry PhD at Durham University developing new imaging agents, I have been fascinated by the potential of imaging for addressing key biomedical issues and aiding to understand pathways of disease. My postdoctoral research, at the University of Manchester and then MIT, provided me expertise in protein expression, nanomaterials, cell biology, and preclinical imaging. Since arriving in Nottingham, I have been given the freedom and encouragement to build my independent research group, combining these broad scientific areas to challenge unmet biomedical needs.
I have had unfortunately close personal experience of neurodegeneration in my family and it led to me pursuing my NRF in this area. The people I met and the excellent research ongoing here at Nottingham then shaped my applications to focusing on inflammation as I started my research group. Further internal collaborations have then guided my focus in the Future Leaders Fellowship, with Professor Anna Grabowska and Professor Claire Gibson project partners on the fellowship to support the research with their expertise in preclinical models of cancer and stroke.
Who or what has helped you get to where you are today?
I’ve had fantastic support throughout my career, both professionally and personally, but I’m going to focus on Nottingham here. There are far too many people to name and I thank everyone who has helped me get to this stage and welcomed me over the last few years here at Nottingham. I do have to highlight my incredibly supportive line managers though. Firstly, Professor Dorothee Auer guiding me through my NRF and the tribulations of starting a few months before a pandemic, then both her and Professor Neil Thomas for their support in establishing my cross-faculty post and belief in my development. I also can’t forget to thank some of our incredible local support staff. There are many who have helped, but I have to particularly thank Liz Hufton and Manjeet Mundy. Without their help the fellowship would never have been submitted, but they’ve always been available and helped lower the stress even in the tightest of deadlines!
Without such amazing local support when I started, I’m not sure I’d have made it through the Nottingham Research Fellowship, let alone be embarking on an UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship now.
Lastly, I need to thank my research group. Working with them has been the most enjoyable part of my job and kept me going throughout the stressful times. I’ve been lucky to work with a fantastic group of students and postdocs spanning chemists, biologists, clinicians, and many others. The aspect of the fellowship I’m most looking forward to the support it will give to our research and growth as both individuals and as a team.
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