Professor James Bron

Professor

Institute of Aquaculture Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor James Bron

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About me

My original BSc training was in Zoology with Marine Zoology (University of North Wales, Bangor), followed by an MSc in Bioarchaeology (sp. Zooarchaeology) (Institute of Archaeology, University College London). More than 30 yrs ago (1987) I came up to Scotland to the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture to undertake my PhD studies and have been here ever since. My PhD on sea lice, copepod ectoparasites of marine salmonids which comprise a major constraint to sustainable Atlantic salmon aquaculture, was funded by the aquaculture producer Marine Harvest (now Mowi). This PhD was followed by a Scottish Salmon Grower’s Association (now Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation) research project on the population dynamics of sea lice on Scottish farms. I have worked continuously on sea lice since that time, on a range of key parasite, viral and bacterial pathogens of cultured finfish over the last 30+ years and on amoebic gill disease (AGD) for the past six years. My background is highly multi-disciplinary, and my areas of interest and research have included aquatic parasitology; finfish health and welfare; image analysis; light, fluorescence, confocal, SEM and TEM microscopy; modelling of disease; zoonotic disease; functional feeds; vaccine development; development of novel medicinal and non-medicinal treatments; investigating engineering solutions to disease; and selection for genetic resistance to disease. Funding down the years has been obtained from BBSRC, BBSRC/NERC, Wellcome Trust, EU Horizon 2020, EU Horizon Europe, Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre, Innovate UK, Scottish Government, Norwegian Fisheries Fund, European Institute of Technology and Defra LINK amongst others. Most of my research has had an applied aspect and has been conducted in close collaboration with industry, often with other UK and international academics and with government scientists. I am currently Professor of Aquatic Animal Health and head of the Institute of Aquaculture's Aquatic Parasitology Research Group.

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