Professor Alex Douglas | The School of Biological Sciences

Professor Alex Douglas

Personal Chair

Accepting PhDs

About

Email Address: a.douglas@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number: +44 (0)1224 272873
Office Address: 411 Zoology Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
Tillydrone Avenue
AB24 2TZ
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School/Department: School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

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Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

Co-lead of the Medical Statistics Team
Member of the mangement team of the Centre for Genome Enabled Biology and Medicine (CGEBM).
Member of the Steering Committee for the High Performance Computing facility, University of Aberdeen.

External Memberships

Member of BBSRC Pool of Experts
Academic advisor British Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society
Research Assessor for the Carnegie Trust

Prizes and Awards

University of Aberdeen Excellence Awards - Best Taught Postgraduate lecturer 2017

Research

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Biological and Environmental Sciences, Nutrition and Health, Biomedical Sciences, Applied Health Sciences.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

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Biological and Environmental Sciences

Supervising
Accepting PhDs

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Nutrition and Health

Accepting PhDs

View Research Area

Biomedical Sciences

Supervising
Accepting PhDs

View Research Area

Applied Health Sciences

Accepting PhDs

View Research Area

Research Specialisms

Applied Statistics
Statistical Modelling
Bioinformatics
Medical Statistics
Statistics

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Funding and Grants

2021 -2022

Artificial intelligence approaches to improve diagnosis of gill disease in Atlantic salmon (AIGD). SAIC & The DataLab, £44K.

Professor Sam Martin (UoA) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2020 - 2022

Spatial and temporal drivers of gill pathology in Atlantic Salmon. SAIC, £160K.

Professor Sam Martin (UoA) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2017 - 2020

Assessing harbour deepening on bottlenose dolphins in Charleston. South Carolina Aquarium, £80K.

Professor David Lusseau (DBT), Dr Alex Douglas, Dr Dorian Houser (National Marine Mammal Foundation, USA), Dr Patricia Fair (USDOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS, USA).

2017 - 2021

The role of hypothalmic neuropeptide network in regulating tissues sizes in response to diet energy content and composition. BBSRC, £550K.

Professor John Speakman (UoA and Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2017 - 2019

Clinical nutrition and the treatment of Atlantic salmon gill diseases. SAIC, £284K.

Professor Sam Martin (UoA) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2017 - 2018

A collaborative feasibility study of the use of eDNA for ecosystem monitoring. Scottish Government, £12K

Dr Alex Douglas and Dr Iveta Matejusova (MSS).

2016 - 2019

Piezophillic adaptationin deep sea amphipods. NERC. £421K.

Professor Stu Piertney (UoA) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2015 - 2018

The genomic landscape of adaptive radiation in the Jaera albifrons species complex . NERC. £340K.

Professor Stu Piertney (UoA) and Dr Alex Douglas.

2015 - 2017

Gut health and immune function: the emerging role of gut microbiota in sustainable aquaculture. BBSRC-NERC, £212K.

Professor Sam Martin (UoA), Dr Alex Douglas, Dr Petra Lewis (UoA), Dr Daniel Merrifield (University of Plymouth), Dr Rachel Lawrence (Royal Veterinary College), Professor Douglas Tocher (University of Stirling), Professor Simon Davies(University of Plymouth).

2015 - 2016

The health black box in PCOD. Understanding the onset of health impacts caused by disturbances. ONR, £260K.

Dr David Lusseau (UoA), Dr Alex Douglas, Professor John Speakman (UoA and Chinese Academy of Sciences), Dr Dorian Houser (National Marine Mammal Foundation, USA), Dr Patricia Fair (USDOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS, USA), Mark Styczynski (Georgia Institute of Technolofy, USA).

2015- 2018

Explaining niche separation in tropical forests: feedbacks between root-fungal symbioses and soil phosphorus partitioning . NERC. £521K.

Professor David Burslem (UoA), Professor David Johnson (UoA), Dr Andy Taylor (UoA), Dr Alex Douglas.

2013 - 2016

Genome-wide association mapping and landscape scale modelling of heritable ionomic diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana populations. BBSRC. £605K

Professor David Salt (UoA), Dr Alex Douglas, Professor Pete Smith (UoA).

2013 - 2016

The human fetal liver: development and response to maternal drug use. MRC, £600K,

Professor P. Fowler (UoA), Dr Alex Douglas (UoA), Dr David Hay (University of Edinburgh), Professor John Iredale (University of Edinburgh), Professor P.O’shaughnessy (University of Glasgow).

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

I am Programme Coordinator for PGR Quantitative Research and Skills in the School of Biological Sciences with overall responsibility for the strategic direction, curricula development, coordination and provision of statistics teaching and training for the postgraduate community.

I also coordinate and teach multiple courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in the field, in the classroom and also online. Currently I teach on:

Undergraduate

BI29Z3 'Biodiversity Field Course'

Postgraduate Taught

MSc BI5009 'Experimental Design and Analysis' (course coordinator)

MSc BI5010 'Statistics for Complex Study designs' (course coordinator)

Postgraduate Research

QUADRAT and SUPER NERC DTPs 'An Introduction to R for biologists' (course coordinator)

QUADRAT NERC DTP 'An Introduction to Linear Modelling Using R' (course coordinator)

PGR 'An Introduction to R' (course coordinator)

PGR 'An Introduction to Statistical Modelling in R' (course coordinator)

PGR ' An Introduction to Generalised Linear Modelling using R' (course coordinator)

Previous Teaching

UG BI3010 'Statistical Analysis of Biological Data' (course coordinator)

MSc BI5505 'Introduction to Bayesian Inference' (course coordinator)

MSc ZO5304 'Population and Community Ecology'

I have also written a free open access book which introduces researchers to using R for robust and reproducible research.

https://intro2r.com/

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

I am a personal tutor for 16 undergraduate students

Publications

Page 3 of 4 Results 51 to 75 of 83

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: V. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on physical activity in the C57BL/6 mouse
2016 - Published
Mitchell, S. E., Delville, C., Konstantopedos, P., Derous, D., Green, C. L., Wang, Y., Han, J. J., Promislow, D. E. L., Douglas, A., Chen, L., Lusseau, D., Speakman, J. R.
Oncotarget, vol. 7, no. 15, pp. 19147-19170
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.8158
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/7370/1/8158_124048_8_PB.pdf
Differential responses of the gut transcriptome to plant protein diets in farmed Atlantic salmon
2016 - Published
Krol, E., Douglas, A., Tocher, D. R., Crampton, V. O., Speakman, J. R., Secombes, C. J., Martin, S. A. M.
BMC Genomics, vol. 17, pp. 1-16
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-016-2473-0
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5595/1/art_3A10.1186_2Fs12864_016_2473_0.pdf
A genome-wide association study of a global rice panel reveals resistance in Oryza sativa to root-knot nematodes
2016 - Published
Dimkpa, S. O. N., Lahari, Z., Shrestha, R., Douglas, A., Gheysen, G., Price, A. H.
Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 1191-1200
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv470
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5553/1/J._Exp._Bot._2016_Dimkpa_1191_200.pdf
The role of parasite-driven selection in shaping landscape genomic structure in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica)
2016 - Published
Wenzel, M. A., Douglas, A., James, M. C., Redpath, S. M., Piertney, S. B.
Molecular Ecology, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 324-341
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13473
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/7932/1/Wenzel_et_al_Molecular_Ecology.pdf
Gene dynamics of toll-like receptor 4 through a population bottleneck in an insular population of water voles (Arvicola amphibius)
2015 - Published
Gavan, M. K., Oliver, M. K., Douglas, A., Piertney, S. B.
Conservation Genetics, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 1181-1193
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0731-3
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5078/1/art_3A10.1007_2Fs10592_015_0731_3.pdf
Biallelic and Genome Wide Association Mapping of Germanium Tolerant Loci in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
2015 - Published
Talukdar, P., Douglas, A., Price, A. H., Norton, G. J.
PloS ONE, vol. 10, no. 9, 0137577
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137577
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5077/1/journal.pone.0137577.pdf
The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: IV. Non-linear change in behavioural phenotype of mice in response to short-term calorie restriction
2015 - Published
Lusseau, D., Mitchell, S. E., Barros, C., Derous, D., Green, C., Chen, L., Han, J. J., Wang, Y., Promislow, D. E. L., Douglas, A., Speakman, J. R.
Scientific Reports, vol. 5, 13198
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep13198
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/4968/1/srep13198.pdf
Genome-wide association and genome partitioning reveal novel genomic regions underlying variation in gastrointestinal nematode burden in a wild bird
2015 - Published
Wenzel, M. A., James, M. C., Douglas, A., Piertney, S. B.
Molecular Ecology, vol. 24, no. 16, pp. 4175-4192
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13313
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/6299/1/manuscript_proof_for_reference.pdf
The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: III. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on mean daily body temperature and torpor use in the C57BL/6 mouse
2015 - Published
Mitchell, S. E., Delville, C., Konstantopedos, P., Derous, D., Green, C. L., Chen, L., Han, J. J., Wang, Y., Promislow, D. E., Douglas, A., Lusseau, D., Speakman, J. R.
Oncotarget, vol. 6, no. 21, pp. 18314-18337
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.4506
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/4988/1/4506_69963_1_PB_1_.pdf
Salinity is an agent of divergent selection driving local adaptation of Arabidopsis thaliana to coastal habitats
2015 - Published
Busoms, S., Teres, J., Huang, X., Bomblies, K., Danku, J., Douglas, A., Weigel, D., Poschenrieder, C., Salt, D. E.
Plant Physiology, vol. 168, no. 3, pp. 915-929
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.00427
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/4582/3/915.full.pdf
The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: I. impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on body composition in the C57BL/6 mouse
2015 - Published
Mitchell, S. E., Tang, Z., Kerbois, C., Delville, C., Konstantopedos, P., Bruel, A., Derous, D., Green, C., Aspden, R. M., Goodyear, S. R., Chen, L., Han, J. J. D., Wang, Y., Promislow, D. E. L., Lusseau, D., Douglas, A., Speakman, J. R.
Oncotarget, vol. 6, no. 18, pp. 15902-15930
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path[]=4142
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.4142
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/4721/1/The_effects_of_graded_levels_of_calorie_restriction.pdf
The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: II. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on circulating hormone levels, glucose homeostasis and oxidative stress in male C57BL/6 mice
2015 - Published
Mitchell, S. E., Delville, C., Konstantopedos, P., Hurst, J., Derous, D., Green, C. L., Chen, L., Han, J. J., Wang, Y., Promislow, D. E. L., Lusseau, D., Douglas, A., Speakman, J. R.
Oncotarget, vol. 6, no. 27, pp. 23213-23237
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=4003&path%5B%5D=9790
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.4003
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5092/1/4003_63044_2_PB.pdf
Functional Divergence of Type 2 Deiodinase Paralogs in the Atlantic Salmon
2015 - Published
Lorgen, M. C., Casadei, E., Król, E., Douglas, A., Birnie, M. J., Ebbesson, L. O. E., Nilsen, T. O., Jordan, W. C., Jørgensen, E. H., Dardente, H., Hazlerigg, D. G., Martin, S. A. M.
Current Biology, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 936-941
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.074
Landscape genomics patterns in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) – a role for parasites?
2015 - Published
Wenzel, M., Douglas, A., Piertney, S.
Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
Species that share traits do not necessarily form distinct and universally applicable functional effect groups
2014 - Published
Murray, F., Douglas, A., Solan, M.
Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 516, pp. 23-34
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11020
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/6155/1/Murray_etal_Manuscript_revised.docx
Genome wide association mapping of grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown at four international field sites
2014 - Published
Norton, G. J., Douglas, A., Lahner, B., Yakubova, E., Guerinot, M. L., Pinson, S. R. M., Tarpley, L., Eizenga, G. C., McGrath, S. P., Zhao, F. J., Islam, M. R., Islam, S., Duan, G., Zhu, Y., Salt, D. E., Meharg, A. A., Price, A. H.
PloS ONE, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1-12
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089685
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3146/1/Nortonetal2014Plos1GWAS.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Prevalence and infection intensity of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) host is reduced by the non-host compound 2-aminoacetophenone
2013 - Published
Hastie, L. C., Wallace, C., Birkett, M. A., Douglas, A., Jones, O., Mordue, A. J., Ritchie, G., Pickett, J. A., Webster, J. L., Bowman, A. S.
Aquaculture, vol. 410-411, pp. 179-183
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2013.06.035
Polyploids exhibit higher potassium uptake and salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis
2013 - Published
Chao, D., Dilkes, B., Luo, H., Douglas, A., Yakubova, E., Lahner, B., Salt, D. E.
Science, vol. 341, no. 6146, pp. 658-659
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1240561
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Detecting the structural and functional impacts of fine sediment on stream invertebrates
2013 - Published
Buendia, C., Gibbins, C. N., Vericat, D., Batalla, R. J., Douglas, A.
Ecological Indicators, vol. 25, pp. 184-196
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.09.027
Real-time PCR assays for the identification of harbor and gray seal species and sex: A molecular tool for ecology and management
2013 - Published
Matejusová, I., Bland, F., Hall, A. J., Harris, R. N., Snow, M., Douglas, A., Middlemas, S. J.
Marine Mammal Science, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 186-194
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00543.x
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00543.x
Tools and approaches for disentangling the effects of parasite-driven processes on host neutral and adaptive genetic diversity
2013 - Published
Wenzel, M., Douglas, A., Piertney, S.
European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) XIV Congress
Contributions to Conferences: Posters
Strong pituitary and hypothalamic responses to photoperiod but not to 6-methoxy-2-benzoxazolinone in female common voles (Microtus arvalis)
2012 - Published
Krol, E., Douglas, A., Dardente, H., Birnie, M., van der Vinnie, V., Eijer, W., Gerkema, M., Hazlerigg, D., Hut, R.
General and Comparative Endocrinology, vol. 179, no. 2, pp. 289-295
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2012.09.004
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/5525/1/1_s2.0_S0016648012003656_main.pdf
Negative correlation between milk production and brown adipose tissue gene expression in lactating mice
2011 - Published
Król, E., Martin, S., Huhtaniemi, I., Douglas, A., Speakman, J.
Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 214, no. 24, pp. 4160-4170
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.061382
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Transcriptomic responses to functional feeds in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
2011 - Published
Tacchi, L., Douglas, A., Secombes, C. J., Bickerdike, R., Martin, S. A. M.
Fish & Shellfish Immunology, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 704-715
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2011.02.023
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Starvation alters the liver transcriptome of the innate immune response in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
2010 - Published
Martin, S. A. M., Douglas, A., Houlihan, D. F., Secombes, C. J.
BMC Genomics, vol. 11, 418
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-11-418
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3947/1/Starvation_alters.pdf

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Memberships and Affiliations

Prizes and Awards

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

Biological and Environmental Sciences

Nutrition and Health

Biomedical Sciences

Applied Health Sciences

Research Specialisms

Funding and Grants

Teaching Responsibilities

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: V. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on physical activity in the C57BL/6 mouse

Differential responses of the gut transcriptome to plant protein diets in farmed Atlantic salmon

A genome-wide association study of a global rice panel reveals resistance in Oryza sativa to root-knot nematodes

The role of parasite-driven selection in shaping landscape genomic structure in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica)

Gene dynamics of toll-like receptor 4 through a population bottleneck in an insular population of water voles (Arvicola amphibius)

Biallelic and Genome Wide Association Mapping of Germanium Tolerant Loci in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: IV. Non-linear change in behavioural phenotype of mice in response to short-term calorie restriction

Genome-wide association and genome partitioning reveal novel genomic regions underlying variation in gastrointestinal nematode burden in a wild bird

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: III. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on mean daily body temperature and torpor use in the C57BL/6 mouse

Salinity is an agent of divergent selection driving local adaptation of Arabidopsis thaliana to coastal habitats

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: I. impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on body composition in the C57BL/6 mouse

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction: II. Impact of short term calorie and protein restriction on circulating hormone levels, glucose homeostasis and oxidative stress in male C57BL/6 mice

Functional Divergence of Type 2 Deiodinase Paralogs in the Atlantic Salmon

Landscape genomics patterns in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) – a role for parasites?

Species that share traits do not necessarily form distinct and universally applicable functional effect groups

Genome wide association mapping of grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown at four international field sites

Prevalence and infection intensity of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) host is reduced by the non-host compound 2-aminoacetophenone

Polyploids exhibit higher potassium uptake and salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis

Detecting the structural and functional impacts of fine sediment on stream invertebrates

Real-time PCR assays for the identification of harbor and gray seal species and sex: A molecular tool for ecology and management

Tools and approaches for disentangling the effects of parasite-driven processes on host neutral and adaptive genetic diversity

Strong pituitary and hypothalamic responses to photoperiod but not to 6-methoxy-2-benzoxazolinone in female common voles (Microtus arvalis)

Negative correlation between milk production and brown adipose tissue gene expression in lactating mice

Transcriptomic responses to functional feeds in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Starvation alters the liver transcriptome of the innate immune response in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

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