Metabolomics & Systems Biology

Biography

Scott Tebbutt is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, and Principal Investigator at the James Hogg Research Centre, Institute for Heart + Lung Health, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. Since 2006, he has served as Co-Director of the Molecular Phenotyping and Genotyping Core of the James Hogg Research Centre, and he is currently Director of the Technology Development Core. He is also Chief Scientific Officer of the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF) Centre of Excellence, focused on heart, lung and kidney failure. Dr. Tebbutt earned his B.A. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford (Oriel College), England in 1989, and his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of East Anglia in 1993 (supervised by Dr. David Lonsdale, Cambridge Laboratory, John Innes Centre, England). He pursued post-doctoral fellowships in the laboratories of Professor Ann Harris (University of Oxford, Institute of Molecular Medicine) and Professor Diana Hill (University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand), where he studied the molecular genetics of cystic fibrosis. He was appointed Research Fellow at the University of Otago (1995-2001), leading a research team investigating the genomics of the sheep cystic fibrosis locus. He was seconded to a start-up biotechnology company (Global Technologies (NZ) Ltd.) as Director of Genomics (1999-2001). He moved to Canada in 2001, and was Senior Researcher in the Centre for Biomedical Research (University of Victoria, 2001-2002), prior to being recruited to the James Hogg Research Centre (formerly the iCAPTURE Centre) at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver (2002).

Research Interest

Dr. Tebbutt’s research programme is focused on the genomics of complex respiratory disease, including the early and late reactions in allergic asthma and rhinitis. He also leads a multidisciplinary collaboration to investigate interactions between fungal spores and human airway cells. His research combines hypothesis-driven study of biological mechanisms with the development of advanced tools and technology (including bioinformatics and microfluidics-based systems) to better facilitate basic and translational research. Dr. Tebbutt has published original research contributions in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.), Journal of Medical Genetics, Genomics, BioTechniques, Bioinformatics, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Medical Genomics and PLoS ONE. He has published numerous technical reviews as well as book chapters on the role of genetic variation in respiratory disease. He has served as reviewer on several grant panels, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and he is Associate Editor for the journal BMC Genetics. Dr. Tebbutt has received several fellowships and awards, including an Edward Penley Abraham Research Trust Fellowship (U.K.), a Journal of Cell Science Traveling Fellowship Award, and a Research Fellowship from the Cystic Fibrosis Association of New Zealand. He has been awarded competitive research funding from organizations such as the National Sanitarium Association (Canada), the British Columbia Lung Association, AllerGen NCE Inc. (Allergy, Genes and Environment Network), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the BC Proteomics Network, and the Wellcome Trust (U.K.).