Dr Ruth Kirk

Contact

Email: r.kirk@kingston.ac.uk
Location: Penrhyn Road
Faculty: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing
School: School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry
Department: Department of Applied and Human Sciences

About

My fascination with aquatic parasites began during my BSc in Biological Sciences at Westfield College, University of London. Working with the Public Health Engineering Group at Imperial College, London further stimulated my interest in aquatic science, followed by a PhD studentship on Sanguinicola inermis, a blood fluke parasite of carp, at Royal Holloway, University of London in collaboration with Thames Water. I managed a Fish Parasitology and Pathology Consultancy at Royal Holloway and worked as a lecturer in life sciences at Middlesex University, London. I then carried out research on Anguillicoloides crassus, a pathogenic swim bladder nematode parasite of European eels, during a Leverhulme Trust Research Postdoctoral Fellowship at Exeter University and Royal Holloway. I ran my own aquatic consultancy company, Crucian UK, for several years but then returned to university life. I am currently an associate professor in parasitology at Kingston University focusing on aquatic parasites and vectors.

Academic responsibilities

Associate Professor

Qualifications

PhD Fish Parasitology and Pathology (University of London)
BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (University of London)

Teaching and learning

I am module leader for LS5000 Sandwich Year Placement. I specialise in teaching eukaryotic parasitology and microscopy on LS4001 Genes, Cells and Tissues, LS6008 Medical Parasitology and LS6014 Bioscience project and have taught parasitology on MSc modules.

Qualifications and expertise

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
PG Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Biomedical Science (Haematology/Medical Microbiology) MSc

Research

My current research interests are:

UK Digenean Diversity Project - using phylogenetics to identify digenean parasites transmitted by aquatic snail hosts and determination of their biomedical and zoonotic importance
Incidence, impacts and assessing risk of cercarial dermatitis
Helminth parasites of freshwater fish, particularly invasive species
Cell signalling in schistosomes

Areas of specialism

Aquatic parasitology

Scholarly affiliations

Member of the British Society for Parasitology
Fellow of the Linnean Society
Fellow of the Zoological Society of London

Research student supervision

Publications

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Number of items: 46.

Article

Enabulele, Egie Elisha, Awharitoma, Agnes Ogheneruemu, Lawton, Scott P. and Kirk, Ruth S. (2018) First molecular identification of an agent of diplostomiasis, 'Diplostomum pseudospathaceum' (Niewiadomska 1984) in the United Kingdom and its genetic relationship with populations in Europe. Acta Parasitologica, 63(3), pp. 444-453. ISSN (print) 1230-2821

McKenzie, Maxine, Kirk, Ruth S and Walker, Anthony J (2018) Glucose uptake in the human pathogen 'Schistosoma mansoni' is regulated through Akt/Protein Kinase B signalling. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 218(1), pp. 152-164. ISSN (print) 0022-1899

Enabulele, Elisha, Lawton, Scott P., Walker, Anthony J. and Kirk, Ruth S. (2018) Molecular and morphological characterization of the cercariae of 'Lecithodendrium linstowi' (Dollfus, 1931), a trematode of bats, and incrimination of the first intermediate snail host, 'Radix balthica'. Parasitology, 145(3), pp. 307-312. ISSN (print) 0031-1820

Churchward, Colin P., Alany, Raid G., Kirk, Ruth S., Walker, Anthony J. and Snyder, Lori A. S. (2017) Prevention of ophthalmia neonatorum caused by 'Neisseria gonorrhoea' using a fatty acid-based formulation. mBio, 8(4), e00534-17. ISSN (print) 2161-2129

Ressurreicao, Margarida, Elbeyioglu, Firat, Kirk, Ruth S., Rollinson, David, Emery, Aidan M, Page, Nigel M and Walker, Anthony J. (2016) Molecular characterization of host-parasite cell signalling in 'Schistosoma mansoni' during early development. Scientific Reports, 6, p. 35614. ISSN (online) 2045-2322

Ressurreicao, Margarida, Kirk, Ruth S, Rollinson, David, Emery, Aidan M, Page, Nigel M and Walker, Anthony J (2015) Sensory protein kinase signalling in ' Schistosoma mansoni ' Cercariae : host location and invasion. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 212(11), pp. 1787-1797. ISSN (print) 0022-1899

Lawton, Scott P., Lim, Rivka M., Dukes, Juliet P., Kett, Stephen M., Cook, Richard T., Walker, Anthony J. and Kirk, Ruth S. (2015) Unravelling the riddle of ' Radix ' : DNA barcoding for species identification of freshwater snail intermediate hosts of zoonotic digeneans and estimating their inter-population evolutionary relationships. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 35, pp. 63-74. ISSN (print) 1567-1348

Ressurreicao, Margarida, De Saram, Paulu, Kirk, Ruth S., Rollinson, David, Emery, Aiden M., Page, Nigel M., Davies, Angela J. and Walker, Anthony J. (2014) Protein Kinase C and extracellular signal-regulated Kinase regulate movement, attachment, pairing and egg release in Schistosoma mansoni. Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases, 8(6), ISSN (print) 1935-2727

Lawton, Scott P., Lim, Rivka M., Dukes, Juliet P., Cook, Richard T., Walker, Anthony J. and Kirk, Ruth S. (2014) Identification of a major causative agent of human cercarial dermatitis, Trichobilharzia franki (Muller and Kimmig 1994), in southern England and its evolutionary relationships with other European populations. Parasites & Vectors, 7, p. 277. ISSN (online) 1756-3305

Zahoor, Zahida, Lockyer, Anne E, Davies, Angela J, Kirk, Ruth, Emery, Aidan M, Rollinson, David, Jones, Catherine S, Noble, Leslie R and Walker, Anthony J. (2014) Differences in the gene expression profiles of Haemocytes from Schistosome-susceptible and -resistant Biomphalaria glabrata exposed to Schistosoma mansoni excretory-secretory products. PloS One, 9(3), e93215. ISSN (print) 1932-6203

Sealey, Katie L., Kirk, Ruth S., Walker, Anthony J., Rollinson, David and Lawton, Scott (2013) Adaptive radiation within the vaccine target tetraspanin-23 across nine Schistosoma species from Africa. International Journal for Parasitology, 43(1), pp. 95-103. ISSN (print) 0020-7519

Modjtahedi, H., Khelwatty, S.A., Kirk, R.S., Seddon, A.M., Essapen, S., Del Vecchio, C.A., Wong, A.J. and Eccles, S. (2012) Immunohistochemical discrimination of wild-type EGFR from EGFRvIII in fixed tumour specimens using anti-EGFR mAbs ICR9 and ICR10. British Journal of Cancer, 106, pp. 883-888. ISSN (print) 0007-0920

Bazsalovicsova, Eva, Kralova-Hromadova, Ivica, Stefka, Jan, Scholz, Tomas, Hanzelova, Vladimira, Vavrova, Sylvia, Szemes, Tomas and Kirk, Ruth (2011) Population study of Atractolytocestus huronensis (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea), an invasive parasite of common carp introduced to Europe: mitochondrial cox1 haplotypes and intragenomic ribosomal ITS2 variants. Parasitology Research, 109(1), pp. 125-131. ISSN (print) 0932-0113

Khattab, Ahmed, Wertheim, David, Petford, Nick, Kirk, Ruth, Wijesinghe, Lasantha and Ibtisam, Ali (2011) Application of confocal microscopy for 3D assessment of carotid plaque structure: implications for carotid blood flow and stroke research. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Neurology, 4(2), pp. 1-4. ISSN (print) 1941-5893

Zahoor, Zahida, Davies, Angela J., Kirk, Ruth S., Rollinson, David and Walker, Anthony John (2010) Larval excretory-secretory products from the parasite Schistosoma mansoni modulate HSP70 protein expression in defence cells of its snail host, Biomphalaria glabrata. Cell Stress & Chaperones, 15(5), pp. 639-650. ISSN (print) 1355-8145

Mortazavi, Parisa N, Goldsworthy, Graham, Kirk, Ruth and Khan, Naveed A (2010) 'Acanthamoeba' produces disseminated infection in locusts and traverses the locust blood-brain barrier to invade the central nervous system. BMC Microbiology, 10(1), pp. 186-194. ISSN (online) 1471-2180

Mortazavi, P. N., Goldsworthy, G., Kirk, R. and Khan, N. A. (2009) Novel model for the in vivo study of central nervous system infection due to Acanthamoeba spp. (T4 genotype). Journal of Medical Microbiology, 58(4), pp. 503-508. ISSN (print) 0022-2615

Copp, Gordon H, Britton, J Robert, Cucherousset, Julien, Garcia-Berthou, Emili, Kirk, Ruth, Peeler, Edmund and Stakenas, Saulius (2009) Voracious invader or benign feline? A review of the environmental biology of European catfish 'Silurus glanis' in its native and introduced range. Fish and Fisheries, 10(3), pp. 252-282. ISSN (print) 1467-2960

Zahoor, Zahida, Davies, Angela J, Kirk, Ruth S, Rollinson, David and Walker, Anthony J (2009) Nitric oxide production by Biomphalaria glabrata haemocytes: effects of Schistosoma mansoni ESPs and regulation through the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway. Parasites & Vectors, 2(18), ISSN (online) 1756-3305

Zahoor, Zahida, Davies, Angela J., Kirk, Ruth S., Rollinson, David and Walker, Anthony J. (2008) Disruption of ERK signalling in Biomphalaria glabrata defence cells by Schistosoma mansoni: implications for parasite survival in the snail host. Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 32(12), pp. 1561-1571. ISSN (print) 0145-305X

Kirk, R. S. (2003) The impact of Anguillicola crassus on European eels. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 10(6), pp. 385-394. ISSN (print) 0969-997x

Kirk, R.S., Morritt, D., Lewis, J.W. and Kennedy, C.R. (2002) The osmotic relationship of the swimbladder nematode Anguillicola crassus with seawater eels. Parasitology, 124(3), pp. 339-347. ISSN (print) 0031-1820

Kett, S. M., Kirk, R. S. and Tronchoni, E. (2002) Changes in aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in Bookham Common Hollows Valley Ponds from 1993 to 1998. The London Naturalist, 81, pp. 197-214. ISSN (print) 0076-0579

Kirk, Ruth S., Colclough, Steve and Sheridan, Steve (2002) Fish diversity in the River Thames. The London Naturalist, 81, pp. 75-81. ISSN (print) 0076-0579

Kirk, R S, Kennedy, C R and Lewis, J W (2000) Effect of salinity on hatching, survival and infectivity of Anguillicola crassus (Nematoda : Dracunculoidea) larvae. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 40(3), pp. 211-218. ISSN (print) 0177-5103

Kirk, R.S., Lewis, J.W. and Kennedy, C.R. (2000) Survival and transmission of Anguillicola crassus Kuwahara, Niimi & Itagaki, 1974 (Nematoda) in seawater eels. Parasitology, 120(3), pp. 289-295. ISSN (print) 0031-1820

Kett, S.M. and Kirk, R. S. (1999) A survey of the fish population in Buckingham Palace Garden Lake. The Natural History of Buckingham Palace Garden, London, Part 1 Supplement to The London Naturalist, 78, pp. 49-59. ISSN (print) 0076-0579

Kirk, R S and Lewis, J W (1998) Histopathology of Sanguinicola inermis infection in carp, Cyprinus carpio. Journal of Helminthology, 72(1), pp. 33-38. ISSN (print) 0022-149X

Kirk, R.S. and Lewis, J.W. (1996) Migration and development of the blood fluke Sanguinicola inermis Plehn, 1905 (Trematoda: Sanguinicolidae) in carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Parasitology, 113(Part 3), pp. 279-285. ISSN (print) 0031-1820

Kirk, R.S. and Lewis, J.W. (1994) The distribution and host range of species of the blood fluke Sanguinicola in British freshwater fish. Journal of Helminthology, 68(4), pp. 315-318. ISSN (print) 0022-149X

Kett, S. M. and Kirk, R. S. (1994) A survey of the aquatic macro-invertebrate communities of the Isle of Wight Pond and Western Hollow Pond, Bookham Common. The London Naturalist, 73, pp. 175-180. ISSN (print) 0076-0579

Kirk, R.S. and Lewis, J.W. (1993) An evaluation of pollutant induced changes in the gills of rainbow-trout using scanning electron microscopy. Environmental Technology, 14(6), pp. 577-585. ISSN (print) 0959-3330

Kirk, R. S. and Lewis, J. W. (1993) The life-cycle and morphology of 'Sanguinicola inermis' Plehn, 1905 (Digenea, Sanguinicolidae). Systematic Parasitology, 25(2), pp. 125-133. ISSN (print) 0165-5752

Kirk, R.S. and Lewis, J.W. (1992) The laboratory maintenance of 'Sanguinicola inermis' Plehn, 1905 (Digenea : Sanguinicolidae). Parasitology, 104(1), pp. 121-127. ISSN (print) 0031-1820

Book Section

Kirk, Ruth (2012) Sanguinicola inermis and Related Species. In: Woo, Patrick T.K. and Buchmann, Kurt, (eds.) Fish Parasites: Pathobiology and Protection. Wallingford, U.K. : CAB International. pp. 270-281. ISBN 9781845938062

Russell, Ian C., Bearhop, Stuart, Newson, Stuart E., Winney, Bruce, Allchin, Colin R. and Kirk, Ruth S. (2003) Multi-disciplinary analysis of Great Cormorant 'Phalacrocorax carbo' carcasses. In: Keller, Thomas M. , Carss, David N. , Helbig, Andreas J. and Flade, Martin, (eds.) Cormorants: Ecology and Management at the Start of the 21st Century: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Cormorants in Freising, Germany, 17-21 December 2000. Wiebelsheim, Germany : AULA-Verlag. pp. 157-166. (Die Vogelwelt) ISSN (print) 0042-7993 ISBN 3891046677

Kirk, Ruth and Lewis, John (1994) Sanguinicoliasis in cyprinid fish in the UK. In: Pike, A.W. and Lewis, J.W., (eds.) Parasitic Diseases of Fish. Dyfed, U.K. : Samara Publishing Limited. pp. 101-117. ISBN 187369203x

Conference or Workshop Item

Kirk, Ruth and Lawton, Scott (2019) UK Schistosomatidae : wildlife parasites or zoonotic threat? In: Annual Meeting of the Australian Society for Parasitology; 08 - 11 Jul 2019, Adelaide, Australia. (Unpublished)

Snyder, Lori [Speaker], Churchward, Colin, Al-Kinani, Ali, Kirk, Ruth, Walker, Anthony J., Abdelkader, Hamdy, Swindon, J, Calder, Alan, Varnakulasingam, Thinuba and Alany, Raid (2018) A prophylaxis and treatment for gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum. In: International Pathogenic Neisseria Conference 2018; 23-28 September, 2018, Asilomar, California, USA. (Unpublished)

Micallef, R J and Kirk, R S (2018) Itchy and scratchy? An investigation of human cercarial dermatitis in the UK. In: British Society for Parasitology Spring Meeting 2018; 08 - 11 Apr 2018, Aberystwyth, Wales. (Unpublished)

Churchward, Colin, Alany, Raid, Kirk, Ruth, Walker, Tony and Snyder, Lori (2017) A promising treatment for eye infections caused by antibiotic resistant 'Neisseria gonorrhoeae'. In: 5th Mol Micro and 4th M4 Meeting; 13-14 Sep 2017, Birmingham, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kirk, R, Corbishley, D, Edwards, S, Ghafoor, A and Jimoh, O (2017) Kingston University Mosquito Watch. In: British Society for Parasitology : 55th Annual Spring Meeting; 02 - 05 Apr 2017, Dundee, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kirk, Ruth, Enabulele, Elisha, Lawton, Scott and Walker, Tony (2016) Trichobilharzia species in the UK : a cause for concern? In: EMOP XII : 12th European Multicolloquium of Parasitology; 20 - 24 Jul 2016, Turku, Finland. (Unpublished)

Monograph

Kirk, R.S. (2000) Checklist of parasites from British freshwater fish. (Technical Report) Huntingdon, U.K. : National Fisheries Laboratory, Environment Agency.

Kirk, R.S. (2000) Checklist of protozoans from British freshwater fish. (Technical Report) Huntingdon, U.K. : National Fisheries Laboratory, Environment Agency.

Kirk, R.S. (2000) Review of the literature on the eel parasite 'Anguillicola crassus'. (Technical Report) Huntingdon, U.K. : National Fisheries Laboratory, Environment Agency. 78 p.

This list was generated on Sat Oct 31 07:04:51 2020 GMT.

Leadership and management

I review postgraduate applications for the Faculty and have served on the Faculty Research Degrees Committee. I have acted as an internal and external research degree examiner and chaired vivas.

I work with Careers and Employability to provide placement opportunities for undergraduate students.

I have mentored women in the Beyond Barriers programme

I am an external and internal assessor of grant applications for national and international research councils.

I have provided peer reviews for many life science journals and books.

I have acted as a consultant for the Environment Agency and fisheries industry.

Public and CIVIC roles

I liaise with the Kingston University Biodiversity Action Group and local biodiversity groups.

Gallery of work

Life cycle of avian Schistosomatidae parasites

Avian schistosomatid parasites cause pathology in a variety of birds and are agents of human cercarial dermatitis.

Cercaria of Trichobilharzia franki

Cercariae of avian schistosomatids like T. franki emerge from snails and swim in the water to find a bird host, but may accidentally penetrate human skin causing cercarial dermatitis.

Life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni - an agent of human schistosomiasis

Human schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease that affects over 200 million people, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.

Scanning electron micrograph of Schistosoma bovis - an agent of ruminant schistosomiasis

Hybrid forms of S. bovis-S. haematobium can infect humans and are reported in West Africa and Corsica.

Life cycle of echinostomes

Many types of echinostome parasites cause a gastrointestinal disease known as echinostomiasis. People can be infected when they eat infected raw or undercooked aquatic products like fish or molluscs.

Cercaria of Echinostoma revolutum, an echinostome parasite

Echinostoma revolutum is distributed worldwide, but only causes disease when raw or undercooked second intermediate hosts (e.g. fish, molluscs, frogs) are traditionally eaten as in E and SE Asia.