Dr Jo Rushworth

Dr Jo Rushworth is a DMU Teacher Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry in the School of Allied Health Sciences. Jo's main research area is Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia. Her recent research has focussed on developing a portable biosensor as cheap and easy way of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease sooner. Recently, Jo invented a new biochemical method which she named “midland blotting” in homage to her Leicester roots. During her Wellcome Trust-funded PhD at the University of Leeds, she studied the structural and molecular biology of Alzheimer’s disease.

Jo has a diverse research and teaching background, having worked in a microbiology laboratory during a year spent in Paris, a National Gatsby scholarship-funded project looking at gene silencing in the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich and various other projects including molecular biology, cloning, protein expression and purification and structure-based drug design in chemistry.

Being a Teacher Fellow, Jo is extremely passionate about teaching and learning. She is currently developing apps and podcasts for learning and revision at University, as well as having a strong interest in international students' learning. Prior to lecturing, Jo was also a secondary school Chemistry teacher and her students won national awards for their A level and GCSE results.

Jo is media trained and has co-written press releases to accompany her recent Alzheimer’s disease research, which was published in national and international media, as well as being tweeted by Richard and Judy!

CEA-targeted nanoparticles allow specific in vivo fluorescent imaging of colorectal cancer models
Tiernan JP, Ingram N, Marston G, Perry SL, Rushworth JV, Coletta PL, Millner PA, Jayne DG and Hughes TA (2015) Nanomedicine. doi:10.2217/nnm.14.202

Biosensor Regeneration: A Review of Common Techniques and Outcomes
Goode JA, Rushworth JV and Millner PA (2014) Langmuir. DOI: 10.1021/la503533g

Biosensors for whole-cell bacterial detection
Rushworth JV, Ahmed A, Hirst NA and Millner PA (2014) (JR and AA joint first authors) Clinical Microbiology Reviews doi: 10.1128/CMR.00120-13.

Midland blotting: A Rapid, Semi-Quantitative Method for Biosensor Surface Characterization.Rushworth JV, Ahmed A and Millner PA (2013) Midland Blotting: A Rapid, Semi-Quantitative Method for Biosensor Surface Characterization. Biosensors and Bioelectronics Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-6210.1000146

A label-free electrical impedimetric biosensor for the specific detection of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta oligomers.
Rushworth JV, Ahmed A, Griffiths HH, Pollock NM, Hooper NM and Millner PA (2013) A label-free electrical impedimetric biosensor for the specific detection of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta oligomers. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. Dec 24;56C:83-90 doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.12.036

Novel impedimetric immunosensor for detection of pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes in human saliva.
Ahmed A, Rushworth JV, Wright JD and Millner PA (2013) Novel impedimetric immunosensor for detection of pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes in human saliva. Analytical Chemistry. Dec 17;85(24):12118-25. doi: 10.1021/ac403253j

Prion protein-mediated toxicity of amyloid-β oligomers requires lipid rafts and the transmembrane LRP1.
Rushworth JV, Griffiths HH, Watt NT and Hooper NM (2013) Prion protein-mediated toxicity of amyloid-β oligomers requires lipid rafts and the transmembrane LRP1. Journal of Biological Chemistry. Mar 29;288(13):8935-51. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.400358 * Awarded Best Paper of the Year 2013 in JBC Neurobiology

Prion protein facilitates uptake of zinc into neuronal cells.Watt NT, Taylor DR, Kerrigan TL, Griffiths HH, Rushworth JV, Whitehouse IJ and Hooper NM (2012) Prion protein facilitates uptake of zinc into neuronal cells. Nature Communications. 3:1134. doi: 10.1038/ncomms2135.

Linking Alzheimer's Amyloid-β Production, Aggregation, and Toxicity at Neuronal Membranes.Rushworth JV and Hooper NM (2011) Lipid Rafts: Linking Alzheimer's Amyloid-β Production, Aggregation, and Toxicity at Neuronal Membranes. International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 2011, Article ID 603052, 14 pages, 2011. doi:10.4061/2011/603052

• Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
• Biosensors for earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
• Protein aggregation and misfolding
• Electrochemical impedance
• Biochemistry and cell biology
• Pedagogic research
• E-learning tools for University learning

• May 2014 DMU Teacher Fellowship
• March 2014 Jean Corsan Prize for best neuroscience paper by a PhD student (ARUK Conference)
• January 2014 Best in year JBC Neurobiology 2013 award for research paper
• July 2012 First prize for best poster at PCB Net meeting, Sheffield
• June 2011 First prize for best poster at international FASEB summer conference, Colorado, USA
• December 2010 First prize for best talk for lay people at the university-wide Leeds Postgraduate Researcher Conference
• December 2009 First prize for best poster at the Leeds Neuroscience Away Day
• October 2008 Shared departmental National Good Schools Awards for my students’ GCSE and A level Chemistry results
• June 2005 Frank Happold Prize for the highest final degree mark
• June 2003 National Gatsby Plant Science undergraduate scholarship

Biochemical Society

• Podcasts produced by students as revision aids

Impedimetric Biosensors for Medical Applications: Current Progress and Challenges.
Rushworth JV, Hirst NA, Goode JA, Pike DJ, Ahmed A and Millner PA (2013)Impedimetric Biosensors for Medical Applications: Current Progress and Challenges. Biomedical & Nanomedical Technologies (B&NT): Concise Monographs Series. Publisher: ASME. ISBN: 9780791860243 

New biosensor test for Alzheimer's disease:

Yorkshire post - newspaper article

International Business Times - article

Red wine and green tea extracts interrupt a key process in Alzheimer's disease:

ITV news - website article

Le Figaro - French newspaper article

bioLOLogy^TM

PI: £78,000 (RCIF bid, 2014) to purchase equipment to set up a Cell Imaging and Analysis Facility at DMU

Actively funded teacher fellow (2014-2017) £500/year