Wendy Gibson

Wendy Gibson is Professor of Protozoology in the School of Biological Sciences. Her research focuses on the parasitic diseases that affect humans and animals in the developing world. She uses molecular tools to investigate genetic variation to find out how different strains of parasites spread in human or animal populations. The main focus is parasitic protozoa: the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness in Africa and wasting diseases in livestock, which are spread by bloodsucking tsetse flies in Africa. Closer to home, Trichomonas, a sexually-transmitted parasite that is very common wherever there are humans.