Abdulazeez Lab

Evolutionary Ecotoxicology and Host-Pathogen Interactions

Research Overview

The Abdulazeez Lab investigates how chronic, sub‑lethal exposure to environmental contaminants reshapes host biology, population dynamics, and susceptibility to infectious disease. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a genetically tractable model system, the lab combines evolutionary genetics, in vivo toxicology, and infection biology to address fundamental questions at the intersection of environmental health and disease ecology.

A central focus is to understand whether long‑term exposure to heavy metals (such as lead), food additives, and plastic‑related chemicals alters hosts’ capacity to resist or tolerate viral and bacterial infections. The lab uses experimental evolution, high‑replication fitness assays, and comparative genomics to track both phenotypic and genomic changes across generations of exposure, and then challenges exposed populations with pathogens to quantify infection outcomes.

Our goal is to generate robust, policy‑relevant evidence on when and how sub‑lethal exposures alter resistance/tolerance to infection and to identify the mechanisms – host‑intrinsic and microbiome‑mediated- that drive these changes. We are committed to open SOPs, reproducible analysis, and capacity building.

Research Questions

  1.     Does chronic, low‑dose exposure to environmental contaminants change susceptibility or tolerance to viral infection?
  2.     Which host processes explain any exposure‑associated change in infection outcomes?
  3.     To what extent are exposure effects mediated by the gut microbiome versus host‑intrinsic mechanisms?
  4.     Are exposure‑associated vulnerabilities reversible, or do they persist across generations?
  5.     Do exposure histories shift subsequent resistance or tolerance to viral and bacterial infection?
  6.     How can complex toxicological and genomic assays be adapted into affordable, open‑access resources for low‑resource settings?

Current Projects Overview

  1.     Assessing how chronic low‑level lead exposure alters survival, viral load, immune gene expression, and oxidative stress in virus‑infected Drosophila.
  2.     Testing whether lead‑induced changes in the gut microbiome causally drive increased viral susceptibility using germ‑free and recolonization models.
  3.  Tracking fitness, reproductive, and genomic changes across generations of exposure to environmentally relevant contaminants.

Research Approaches / Technologies

  • Whole‑organism Drosophila assays
  •  Experimental evolution
  •  Population and evolutionary genetics
  •  Molecular biology
  •  Quantitative analysis
  •  Open science and translation
  •  Partnerships for specialist analyses
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Collaboration and Opportunities

The Abdulazeez Lab maintains active research connections across the UK, Switzerland, and Germany. We welcome collaborations that bridge environmental toxicology, infection biology, and evolutionary genetics, including:

  • Joint pilots on environmentally relevant exposures and infection endpoints (AOP‑compatible reporting)
  • Co‑supervision of MSc/PhD projects; visiting researcher placements; training and SOP sharing

Researchers with complementary interests, especially in environmental exposure selection, policy translation, or advanced infection assays, are invited to get in touch.