University of Exeter Medical School

Dr Patrick Hamilton

Dr Patrick Hamilton

Lecturer (E&S)

 p.b.hamilton@exeter.ac.uk

 3438

 College House G00

 

College House, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

Overview

Patrick is a lecturer (Education and Scholarship) in the Medical School.  He teaches on the Medical Science, Neuroscience and Medicine (BMBS) undergraduate degree programs, and is Year 1 lead for Neurosciences. Patrick received his PhD from the University of Bristol where his work focused on the diversity and evolution of trypanosomes - protist blood parasites which cause diseases of livestock and humans. His subsequent postdoctoral research mainly focused on understanding the impact of estrogen pollution on the reproductive fitness of male fish and the population-level consequences. This work used both experimental and population-genetics approaches. 

Patrick teaches in several subject areas including cell biology, genetics, microbiology, reproductive biology, experimental design and statistics, and physiology. He enjoys developing and applying new methods to engage students in synchronous sessions. He also has interests in environmental issues (e.g. climate change), social mobility and the spread of medical misinformation.

Patrick has also been involved in the Medical Schools Council summer schools program, giving a lecture “Science and the Past and Future of Medicine”, and has given talks for the University of Exeter’s Tropical Medicine Society on parasitic worms on unravelling the the origin of pandemics.

Qualifications

  • BA (Natural Sciences), University of Cambridge
  • PhD, University of Bristol
  • PGCE, University of Exeter
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

Patrick’s current focus is on educational scholarship, particularly in Genetics education, critical appraisal, human evolution and medicine, and the links between medicine and the environment.

As a postdoctoral researcher, his research investigated the impact of estrogen pollution on fish populations.  Much of this work used a combination of breeding studies, long-term exposure experiments, and population genetics analyses (using microsatellites & SNPs) to understand the population level impacts of estrogens on wild populations of roach. He also collaborated on a range of projects where genetic methods were used to study the behavior and ecology of bats and fish.

Patrick completed his PhD at the University of Bristol on the evolution of trypanosomes, protist parasites that cause several diseases in livestock and humans.  He developed and applied genetic techniques to explore trypanosome diversity and address evolutionary questions. This involved culturing and sequencing ‘novel’ trypanosomes from Australian marsupials and terrestrial leeches, and making evolutionary trees to investigate the origin of the genus.  Some of this work (and subsequent collaborations) led to the current hypothesis that the human pathogen, Trypanosoma cruzi evolved from a parasite of bats.

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Publications

Books

Hamilton AC, Hamilton PB (eds)(2006). Plant Conservation - an Ecological Approach. London, Earthscan Press. Abstract.

Journal articles

Brask JB, Croft D, Edenbrow M, James R, Bleakley BH, Ramnarine IW, Heathcote R, Tyler C, Hamilton P, Dabelsteen T, et al (In Press). Evolution of non-kin cooperation: social assortment by cooperative phenotype in guppies. Royal Society Open Science
Hamilton P (In Press). Feminizing effects of ethinylestradiol in roach (Rutilus rutilus) populations with different estrogenic pollution exposure histories. Aquatic Toxicology
Hamilton PB, Baynes A, Nicol E, Harris G, Uren Webster TM, Beresford N, Straszkiewicz M, Jobling S, Tyler CR (2022). Feminizing effects of ethinylestradiol in roach (Rutilus rutilus) populations with different estrogenic pollution exposure histories. Aquatic Toxicology, 249, 106229-106229.
Wright PGR, Bellamy C, Hamilton PB, Schofield H, Finch D, Mathews F (2021). Characterising the relationship between suitable habitat and gene flow for <i>Myotis bechsteinii</i> and <i>Eptesicus serotinus</i> in Britain. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY, 36(12), 3419-3428.  Author URL.
Wood E, Pablo C-L, Cram D, Walker L, York J, Anke L, Hamilton P, Tyler C, Young A (2021). Social dominance and rainfall predict telomere dynamics in a cooperative arid-zone bird. Molecular Ecology
Hamilton PB, Lockyer AE, Uren Webster TM, Studholme DJ, Paris JR, Baynes A, Nicol E, Dawson DA, Moore K, Farbos A, et al (2020). Investigation into Adaptation in Genes Associated with Response to Estrogenic Pollution in Populations of Roach (Rutilus rutilus) Living in English Rivers. Environ Sci Technol, 54(24), 15935-15945. Abstract.  Author URL.
Wright PGR, Mathews F, Schofield H, Morris C, Burrage J, Smith A, Dempster EL, Hamilton PB (2018). Application of a novel molecular method to age free-living wild Bechstein's bats. Mol Ecol Resour, 18(6), 1374-1380. Abstract.  Author URL.
Wright PGR, Hamilton PB, Schofield H, Glover A, Damant C, Davidson-Watts I, Mathews F (2018). Genetic structure and diversity of a rare woodland bat, Myotis bechsteinii: comparison of continental Europe and Britain. Conservation Genetics, 19(4), 777-787. Abstract.
Garcia HA, Rodrigues CMF, Rodrigues AC, Pereira DL, Pereira CL, Camargo EP, Hamilton PB, Teixeira MMG (2018). Remarkable richness of trypanosomes in tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans morsitans and Glossina pallidipes) from the Gorongosa National Park and Niassa National Reserve of Mozambique revealed by fluorescent fragment length barcoding (FFLB). Infect Genet Evol, 63, 370-379. Abstract.  Author URL.
Espinosa-Álvarez O, Ortiz PA, Lima L, Costa-Martins AG, Serrano MG, Herder S, Buck GA, Camargo EP, Hamilton PB, Stevens JR, et al (2018). Trypanosoma rangeli is phylogenetically closer to Old World trypanosomes than to Trypanosoma cruzi. Int J Parasitol, 48(7), 569-584. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Rolshausen G, Uren Webster TM, Tyler CR (2017). Adaptive capabilities and fitness consequences associated with pollution exposure in fish. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 372(1712). Abstract.  Author URL.
Rodrigues CM, Garcia HA, Rodrigues AC, Costa-Martins AG, Pereira CL, Pereira DL, Bengaly Z, Neves L, Camargo EP, Hamilton PB, et al (2017). New insights from Gorongosa National Park and Niassa National Reserve of Mozambique increasing the genetic diversity of Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma vivax-like in tsetse flies, wild ungulates and livestock from East Africa. Parasit Vectors, 10(1). Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Cowx IG, Oleksiak MF, Griffiths AM, Grahn M, Stevens JR, Carvalho GR, Nicol E, Tyler CR (2016). Population-level consequences for wild fish exposed to sublethal concentrations of chemicals – a critical review. Fish and Fisheries, 17(3), 545-566. Abstract.
Jürgens MD, Crosse J, Hamilton PB, Johnson AC, Jones KC (2016). The long shadow of our chemical past - High DDT concentrations in fish near a former agrochemicals factory in England. Chemosphere, 162, 333-344. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Uren Webster TM, Basiewicz M, Kennedy EV, De-Bastos ESR, Mathews F (2015). A rapid PCR-based test for identification of fifteen British bat species. Conservation Genetics Resources, 7(3), 651-657. Abstract.
Rolshausen G, Phillip DAT, Beckles DM, Akbari A, Ghoshal S, Hamilton PB, Tyler CR, Scarlett AG, Ramnarine I, Bentzen P, et al (2015). Do stressful conditions make adaptation difficult? Guppies in the oil-polluted environments of southern Trinidad. Evol Appl, 8(9), 854-870. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Lange A, Nicol E, Bickley LK, De-Bastos ESR, Jobling S, Tyler CR (2015). Effects of Exposure to WwTW Effluents over Two Generations on Sexual Development and Breeding in Roach Rutilus rutilus. Environ Sci Technol, 49(21), 12994-13002. Abstract.  Author URL.
Lima L, Espinosa-Álvarez O, Pinto CM, Cavazzana M, Pavan AC, Carranza JC, Lim BK, Campaner M, Takata CSA, Camargo EP, et al (2015). New insights into the evolution of the Trypanosoma cruzi clade provided by a new trypanosome species tightly linked to Neotropical Pteronotus bats and related to an Australian lineage of trypanosomes. Parasit Vectors, 8 Abstract.  Author URL.
Garcia HA, Rodrigues AC, Rodrigues CMF, Bengaly Z, Minervino AHH, Riet-Correa F, Machado RZ, Paiva F, Batista JS, Neves L, et al (2014). Microsatellite analysis supports clonal propagation and reduced divergence of Trypanosoma vivax from asymptomatic to fatally infected livestock in South America compared to West Africa. Parasites and Vectors, 7(1). Abstract.
Hamilton PB, Nicol E, De-Bastos ESR, Williams RJ, Sumpter JP, Jobling S, Stevens JR, Tyler CR (2014). Populations of a cyprinid fish are self-sustaining despite widespread feminization of males. BMC Biol, 12 Abstract.  Author URL.
Bickley LK, Brown AR, Hosken DJ, Hamilton PB, Le Page G, Paull GC, Owen SF, Tyler CR (2013). Interactive effects of inbreeding and endocrine disruption on reproduction in a model laboratory fish. Evolutionary Applications, 6(2), 279-289. Abstract.
Santos EM, Hamilton PB, Coe TS, Ball JS, Cook AC, Katsiadaki I, Tyler CR (2013). Population bottlenecks, genetic diversity and breeding ability of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from three polluted English Rivers. Aquatic Toxicology, 142-143, 264-271. Abstract.
Fermino BR, Viola LB, Paiva F, Garcia HA, De Paula CD, Botero-Arias R, Takata CSA, Campaner M, Hamilton PB, Camargo EP, et al (2013). The phylogeography of trypanosomes from South American alligatorids and African crocodilids is consistent with the geological history of South American river basins and the transoceanic dispersal of Crocodylus at the Miocene. Parasites and Vectors, 6(1). Abstract.
Fermino BR, Viola LB, Paiva F, Garcia HA, de Paula CD, Botero-Arias R, Takata CSA, Campaner M, Hamilton PB, Camargo EP, et al (2013). The phylogeography of trypanosomes from South American alligatorids and African crocodilids is consistent with the geological history of South American river basins and the transoceanic dispersal of Crocodylus at the Miocene. PARASITES & VECTORS, 6  Author URL.
Lima L, Espinosa-Álvarez O, Hamilton PB, Neves L, Takata CS, Campaner M, Attias M, De Souza W, Camargo EP, Teixeira MM, et al (2013). Trypanosoma livingstonei: a new species from African bats supports the bat seeding hypothesis for the Trypanosoma cruzi clade. Parasites and Vectors, 6(1). Abstract.
Brown AR, Bickley LK, Ryan TA, Paull GC, Hamilton PB, Owen SF, Sharpe AD, Tyler CR (2012). Differences in sexual development in inbred and outbred zebrafish (Danio rerio) and implications for chemical testing. Aquat Toxicol, 112-113, 27-38. Abstract.  Author URL.
Lima L, Silva FMD, Neves L, Attias M, Takata CSA, Campaner M, de Souza W, Hamilton PB, Teixeira MMG (2012). Evolutionary Insights from Bat Trypanosomes: Morphological, Developmental and Phylogenetic Evidence of a New Species, Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) erneyi sp. nov. in African Bats Closely Related to Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi and Allied Species. Protist, 163(6), 856-872. Abstract.
Hamilton PB (2012). Is Trypanosoma vivax genetically diverse?. Trends in Parasitology, 28(5).
Hamilton PB (2012). Is Trypanosoma vivax genetically diverse?. Trends Parasitol, 28(5).  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Cruickshank C, Stevens JR, Teixeira MMG, Mathews F (2012). Parasites reveal movement of bats between the New and Old Worlds. Mol Phylogenet Evol, 63(2), 521-526. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Teixeira MMG, Stevens JR (2012). The evolution of Trypanosoma cruzi: the 'bat seeding' hypothesis. Trends in Parasitology, 28(4), 136-141. Abstract.
Croft DP, Hamilton PB, Darden SK, Jacoby DMP, James R, Bettaney EM, Tyler CR (2012). The role of relatedness in structuring the social network of a wild guppy population. Oecologia, 1-9.
Brown AR, Bickley LK, Le Page G, Hosken DJ, Paull GC, Hamilton PB, Owen SF, Robinson J, Sharpe AD, Tyler CR, et al (2011). Are toxicological responses in laboratory (inbred) zebrafish representative of those in outbred (wild) populations? - a case study with an endocrine disrupting chemical. Environ Sci Technol, 45(9), 4166-4172. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Lewis MD, Cruickshank C, Gaunt MW, Yeo M, Llewellyn MS, Valente SA, Maia da Silva F, Stevens JR, Miles MA, et al (2011). Identification and lineage genotyping of South American trypanosomes using fluorescent fragment length barcoding. Infect Genet Evol, 11(1), 44-51. Abstract.  Author URL.
Lange A, Paull GC, Hamilton PB, Iguchi T, Tyler CR (2011). Implications of persistent exposure to treated wastewater effluent for breeding in wild roach (Rutilus rutilus) populations. Environ Sci Technol, 45(4), 1673-1679. Abstract.  Author URL.
Garcia HA, Rodrigues AC, Martinkovic F, Minervino AHH, Campaner M, Nunes VLB, Paiva F, Hamilton PB, Teixeira MMG (2011). Multilocus phylogeographical analysis of Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) genotypes from sympatric cattle and water buffalo populations supports evolutionary host constraint and close phylogenetic relationships with genotypes found in other ruminants. International Journal for Parasitology, 41(13-14), 1385-1396. Abstract.
Hamilton PB, Stevens JR (2011). Resolving relationships between Australian trypanosomes using DNA barcoding data. Trends Parasitol, 27(3).  Author URL.
Harris CA, Hamilton PB, Runnalls TJ, Vinciotti V, Henshaw A, Hodgson D, Coe TS, Jobling S, Tyler CR, Sumpter JP, et al (2011). The consequences of feminization in breeding groups of wild fish. Environ Health Perspect, 119(3), 306-311. Abstract.  Author URL.
Adams ER, Hamilton PB, Gibson WC (2010). African trypanosomes: Celebrating diversity. Trends in Parasitology, 26(7), 324-328. Abstract.
Paull GC, Filby AL, Giddins HG, Coe TS, Hamilton PB, Tyler CR (2010). Dominance hierarchies in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and their relationship with reproductive success. Zebrafish, 7(1), 109-117. Abstract.  Author URL.
Adams ER, Hamilton PB, Rodrigues AC, Malele II, Delespaux V, Teixeira MMG, Gibson W (2010). New Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax genotypes from tsetse flies in East Africa. Parasitology, 137(4), 641-650. Abstract.
Coe TS, Hamilton PB, Griffiths AM, Hodgson DJ, Wahab MA, Tyler CR (2009). Genetic variation in strains of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and the implications for ecotoxicology studies. Ecotoxicology, 18(1), 144-150. Abstract.  Author URL.
Coe TS, Hamilton PB, Hodgson D, Paull GC, Tyler CR (2009). Parentage outcomes in response to estrogen exposure are modified by social grouping in zebrafish. Environ Sci Technol, 43(21), 8400-8405. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Adams ER, Njiokou F, Gibson WC, Cuny G, Herder S (2009). Phylogenetic analysis reveals the presence of the Trypanosoma cruzi clade in African terrestrial mammals. Infect Genet Evol, 9(1), 81-86. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Adams ER, Malele II, Gibson WC (2008). A novel, high-throughput technique for species identification reveals a new species of tsetse-transmitted trypanosome related to the Trypanosoma brucei subgenus, Trypanozoon. Infect Genet Evol, 8(1), 26-33. Abstract.  Author URL.
Coe TS, Hamilton PB, Hodgson D, Paull GC, Stevens JR, Sumner K, Tyler CR (2008). An environmental estrogen alters reproductive hierarchies, disrupting sexual selection in group-spawning fish. Environ Sci Technol, 42(13), 5020-5025. Abstract.  Author URL.
Adams ER, Hamilton PB (2008). New molecular tools for the indentification of trypanosome species. Future Microbiology, 3(2), 167-176. Abstract.
Tyler, C.R. (2007). Identification of microsatellite loci for parentage analysis in roach Rutilus rutilus and 8 other cyprinids by cross-species amplification, and a novel test for detecting hybrids between roach and other cyprinids. Molecular Ecology Notes
Hamilton PB, Gibson WC, Stevens JR (2007). Patterns of co-evolution between trypanosomes and their hosts deduced from ribosomal RNA and protein-coding gene phylogenies. Mol Phylogenet Evol, 44(1), 15-25. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hamilton PB, Stevens, J.R. Gidley, P. Holz, P. Gibson WC (2005). A new lineage of trypanosomes from Australian vertebrates and terrestrial bloodsucking leeches (Haemadipsidae). International Journal for Parasitology, 35, 431-443.
Hamilton PB, Stevens, J.R. Holz, P. Boag, B. Gibson WC (2005). The accidental introduction of the trypanosome of the introduced European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) to Australia and its potential for biocontrol. Molecular Ecology, 35, 431-443.
Hamilton PB, Stevens JR, Holz P, Boag B, Cooke B, Gibson WC (2005). The inadvertent introduction into Australia of Trypanosoma nabiasi, the trypanosome of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and its potential for biocontrol. Mol Ecol, 14(10), 3167-3175. Abstract.  Author URL.
GIBSON WC, LOM J, PECKOVÁ H, FERRIS VR, HAMILTON PB (2004). Phylogenetic analysis of freshwater fish trypanosomes from Europe using ssu rRNA gene sequences and random amplification of polymorphic DNA. Parasitology, 130(4), 405-412.
Hamilton PB, Stevens, J.R. Gaunt, M.W. Gidley, J. Gibson WC (2004). Trypanosomes are monophyletic: evidence from genes for glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase and small subunit ribosomal RNA. International Journal for Parasitology, 34, 1393-1404.
Malele I, Craske L, Knight C, Ferris V, Njiru Z, Hamilton P, Lehane S, Lehane M, Gibson W (2003). The use of specific and generic primers to identify trypanosome infections of wild tsetse flies in Tanzania by PCR. Infection Genetics and Evolution, 3(4), 271-279.

Chapters

Hamilton PB, Stevens JR (2017). 15 Classification and phylogeny of Trypanosoma cruzi. In  (Ed) American Trypanosomiasis Chagas Disease, Elsevier, 321-344.
Hamilton PB, Stevens JR (2017). Classification and phylogeny of Trypanosoma cruzi. In  (Ed) American Trypanosomiasis Chagas Disease: One Hundred Years of Research: Second Edition, 321-344. Abstract.
Hamilton PB, Stevens JR (2010). 13 Classification and Phylogeny of Trypanosoma cruzi. In  (Ed) American Trypanosomiasis, Elsevier, 321-338.
Hamilton PB, Stevens, J.R. (2010). Classification and Phylogeny of Trypanosoma cruzi. In Tibayrenc M, Tellería J (Eds.) American Trypanosomiasis, an Elsevier Title.

Conferences

Tyler CR, Hamilton PB, Lange A, Filby AL, Soffkar M, Lee O, Takesono A, Kudoh T, Paull GC, Iguchi T, et al (2012). Health impacts of exposure to environmental oestrogens in fish.  Author URL.
Tyler C, Lange A, Santos E, Coe T, Paull G, Filby A, Hamilton P (2008). The feminization of fish in English rivers: Causation, mechanisms, and significance.  Author URL.
Adams ER, Hamilton PB, Malele II, Gibson WC (2008). The identification, diversity and prevalence of trypanosomes in field caught tsetse in Tanzania using ITS-1 primers and fluorescent fragment length barcoding. Abstract.

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External Engagement and Impact

Invited lectures

  • 8th International Symposium on Fish Endocrinology, Gothenberg, Sweden, 28th June 2nd - July 2016 – Towards understanding the population-level impacts of endocrine disruption on populations of roach
  • TryTax2, Ostrava, Czech Republic, 14 -16th June 2016 - Invited speaker: “Towards understanding the origin of Trypanosoma cruzi” (also a session chair and member of the Scientific Organising Committee).

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Teaching

One of Patrick’s main roles is as a module lead for “Introduction to Genetics” (NEU1007), a first year module on the Neuroscience BSc Programme. He designed the course to align with what he sees as the most interesting and relevant aspects of the topic and uses constructivist approaches to student learning.  His is also co-lead of Translational Medical Sciences, a mandatory final year module for Medical Sciences undergraduates. The specialist essay topics he has supervised have mainly focused on various aspects of malaria including vaccination, genomics, evolution, the evolution of drug resistance as well as CRISPR treatment of sickle cell anaemia.

He is also an undergraduate tutor.

Modules

2023/24


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