Sheena Cruickshank

Sheena Margaret Cruickshank is a British immunologist and Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Public Engagement at the University of Manchester. She researches how immune responses of the gut are started as a result of infection and/or inflammation.[1][2][3] Cruickshank is an award-winning science communicator.[4]

Sheena Cruickshank
Born
Sheena Margaret Cruickshank
Alma materStrathclyde University (BSc)
University of Leeds (PhD)
Known forImmunology
Public engagement
Scientific career
FieldsMucosal immunology[1]
InstitutionsUniversity of Manchester
ThesisThe effects of pleiotropic cytokines on liver cells in vitro (1998)
Websitewww.mig.manchester.ac.uk/people/sheenacruickshank

Education

Cruickshank completed a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry & Immunology at Strathclyde University.[5] She earned a PhD in immunology in 1998 from the University of Leeds[6] for research investigating the effects of pleiotropic cytokines on liver cells.

Research and career

Since 2007 Cruickshank has worked in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manchester.[7] She uses in vitro and in vivo approaches to characterise crosstalk between immune cells, commensal bacteria, pathogens and epithelial cells.[8] These experiments make use of infectious models, including Toxoplasma gondii and Trichuris muris, to understand immunity regulation in the skin and gut.[9] By identifying how the skin and gut recognise and respond to the microbiome, they are starting to understand how it affects cell function. Cruickshank won the Northwest BioNow award for her test for the management and assessment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.[10][11]

BBC Radio 4 broadcast in 2018 in the series The Life Scientific Sheena Cruickshank's reflections on her life and career.[4] Her brother was passionate about science and particularly marine biology which inspired her to have an interest in science from an early age. His subsequent illness with cancer and death at a young age was a series of events that helped shape her curiosity about the immune system and why diseases happen.[4]

Public engagement

In 2009, Cruickshank co-created the Worm Wagon, "an interactive program that merges art and science activities to promote awareness of parasitic worm infection".[12] She later created the Wiggling Rangoli, exploring parasites and how parasitic infections impacts people around the world.[13] Cruickshank created the citizen science app Britain Breathing, which teaches the impacts of air pollution.[14] The app maps the incidence of allergies and asthma, and uses data to explore why allergies are increasing and the role of air pollution in allergy development.[15] She is a trustee of and the Public Engagement Secretary for the British Society for Immunology.[16] She has appeared on the BBC[4] and CNN.[17][18][19] Cruickshank is interested in ways to empower migrant communities with science using English classes.[20]

She acts as academic lead for public engagement at the University of Manchester where she has developed their public engagement strategy and is working to enhance public engagement support and development at the University of Manchester.[21] She blogs about the University of Manchester public engagement.[22]

Awards and honours

In 2013 she won Royal Society of Biology Communicator of the Year and the Manchester International Women’s Day Award in Women & Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.[23] She was a finalist in the 2014 NCCPE Engage and 2016 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Innovator competitions.[24] In 2014 she spoke at QEDcon, a two day skepticism and pop-science conference.[25] In 2016 she introduced Manchester's Science in the City festival.[26] She was a keynote speaker at the 2017 Bluedot Festival.[27][28] She spoke at New Scientist Live 2017.[29] Cruickshank was a 2017 Cosmic Superhero, a photographic exhibition at Conway Hall Ethical Society.[30] She spoke about the microbiome at TEDx Manchester in Bridgewater Hall, her talk was called Eat Yourself Healthy.[31]

She won the 2017 Better World and Making a Difference Award for Social Responsibility Award.[32][33] She is a 2017-18 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow.[34]

References
  1. Sheena Cruickshank publications indexed by Google Scholar
  2. Sheena Cruickshank publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  3. Sheena Cruickshank publications from Europe PubMed Central
  4. Al-Khalili, Jim (2018). "Sheena Cruickshank on the wonders of the human immune system". bbc.co.uk. BBC.
  5. "Dr. Sheena Cruickshank - AcademiaNet". Academia-net.org. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  6. Cruickshank, Sheena (1998). The effects of pleiotropic cytokines on liver cells in vitro. leeds.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Leeds. Copac 18152296.
  7. "Mucosal dendritic cell-epithelial cell cross-talk | Event Details | powered by RegOnline". Regonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  8. "Infectious disease | Manchester Immunology Group". Mig.ls.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  9. "Prof Sheena Cruickshank | Manchester Immunology Group". Mig.ls.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  10. "Success for University of Manchester at the 2017 Northwest Bionow Awards". UMIP. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  11. UMIPmarketing (2017-02-23), UMIP Video Flyer: A new biomarker for inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease, retrieved 2018-03-25
  12. "Scientists win at UK awards | The Mancunion". mancunion.com. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  13. "The art of science: Wriggling Rangoli". ArtsProfessional. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  14. "Who we are". 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  15. Vigo, Markel; Hassan, Lamiece; Vance, William; Jay, Caroline; Brass, Andrew; Cruickshank, Sheena (2018). "Britain Breathing: Using the Experience Sampling Method to Collect the Seasonal Allergy Symptoms of a Country". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 25 (1): 88–92. doi:10.1093/jamia/ocx148. ISSN 1067-5027. PMC 6381818. PMID 29240930.
  16. "Secretaries | British Society for Immunology". Immunology.org. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  17. "Prof Sheena Cruickshank PhD - Media contributions and coverage | The University of Manchester". Research.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  18. "BBC WORLD SERVICE: CrowdScience: Can We Worm Our Way Into Better Health? | Research Explorer | The University of Manchester". Research.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  19. "Can We Worm Our Way Into Better Health?, CrowdScience - BBC World Service". BBC. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  20. Mclean, Indira; Rushton, Marianne; Griffiths, Rosie; Lizio, Maria Giovanna; Dawson, Emily; Cruickshank, Sheena (2018). "A community-based public engagement with health experiment: Using English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classes to empower immigrant communities with science" (PDF). Research for All. 2 (1): 131–142. doi:10.18546/RFA.02.1.12.
  21. "Share, Inspire, Involve" (PDF). University of Manchester. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  22. "Public & Community Engagement (The University of Manchester)". Engagement.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  23. "International Women's Day 2014: inspiring academics". Life Science Archive. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  24. "Awards (The University of Manchester)". Socialresponsibility.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  25. qedcon (2014-12-10), Sheena Cruickshank: Is Ceanliness A Bad Thing?, retrieved 2018-02-27
  26. University of Manchester (2016-07-21), Sheena Cruickshank introduces the Science in the City Festival, retrieved 2018-02-27
  27. "Sheena Cruickshank – Bluedot Festival". Bluedot Festival. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  28. "Bluedot: Sheena Cruickshank, The Amazing and Horrible World of Parasites, reviewed by Tessa Harris - The Manchester Review". The Manchester Review. 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  29. "Thousands 'ask a biologist' at New Scientist Live". Rsb.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  30. The Cosmic Shambles Network (2017-12-09), Dr Sheena Cruickshank - Cosmic Superheroes, retrieved 2018-02-27
  31. "TEDXMCR2018 - TyneSight Photographic Services". Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  32. "Better World Awards | Research Explorer | The University of Manchester". research.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  33. "Making a Difference Award for Social Responsibility | Research Explorer | The University of Manchester". Research.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  34. "Engagement as a Driver for Research: Worm Wagon, Wriggling Rangoli, and Citizen Sensors". AAAS - The World's Largest General Scientific Society. 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
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