Prof. James Bron
Professor of Aquatic Animal Health and Head of Aquatic Parasitology, Institute of Aquaculture
James Bron is Professor of Aquatic Animal Health and Head of Aquatic Parasitology at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling. Following a PhD in Aquatic Veterinary Science involving sea louse biology, host-pathogen interactions and population dynamics, he has researched, supervised PhD students, and taught about parasites of aquatic organisms for over 30 years (see https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-0519).
Over this period, his research – often conducted in collaboration with industry partners – has largely focused on parasites of farmed finfish in the UK and worldwide, being supported by a diverse range of funders including Scottish Government, Wellcome Trust; BBSRC, Defra, EU, SAIC, Norwegian Fisheries Fund, and Innovate UK.
As the gills represent a key target organ and portal of entry for many parasites, research has often investigated gill parasites, gill disease and mucosal response to disease, with work over the last decade looking increasingly at amoebic gill disease and the associated agent Neoparamoeba perurans.
Recent work has included research on culture of amoebae, infection challenge models, disease resistance, diagnostics, medicinal and non-medicinal treatment, histopathology, host-pathogen interactions; transcriptomics and vaccine development.
Selected publications
- Robledo, D., Hamilton, A., Gutiérrez, A.P., Bron, J. E., Houston, R. D. (2020). Characterising the mechanisms underlying genetic resistance to amoebic gill disease in Atlantic salmon using RNA sequencing. BMC Genomics 21, 271. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-6694-x
- Fernandez‐Senac, C., Fridman, S., Sokolowska, J., Monaghan, S. J., Garzon, T., Betancor, M., Adams, S. & Bron, J. E. (2020). A comparison of the use of different swab materials for optimal diagnosis of amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Journal of Fish Diseases, 43(11), 1463-1472. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13243