Karl Swann

Professor Karl Swann is a Professor and Head of the Biomedicine Division at Cardiff University's School of Biosciences. His research focuses on cell signaling and metabolism during fertilization and early embryo development, particularly the role of phospholipase C zeta (PLCzeta) in egg activation. He teaches modules in Physiology and Cell Biology and supervises PhD students.

Education: BSc and PhD in Physiology from University College London (UCL), postdoctoral work in Japan, and later appointments at St George’s Hospital Medical School and Cardiff University since 2004.

Research Interests:

• Mechanisms of egg activation via PLCzeta-induced Ca²⁺ oscillations.
• Interplay between mitochondrial ATP production and Ca²⁺ signaling at fertilization.
• Lipid metabolism in oocytes using advanced imaging techniques like Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS).

Recent Research Trends: Recent work explores lipid droplet dynamics, ATP-Ca²⁺ interdependencies, and developing PLCzeta-based therapies for oocyte activation failure. Collaborations include Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics and Physics, focusing on modeling calcium oscillations and lipid imaging.

Awards & Editorial Roles: Editorial Board member of Reproduction. Active in addressing gender bias in peer review systems.

Grants & Teams: Funded projects on PLCzeta therapy development and lipid metabolism. Lab members include PhD students Cindy Ikie, Zizhen Huang, and Maryam Al Shaikh. Collaborators include Prof Paola Borri (Physics), Dr Thomas Woolley (Mathematics), and the Wales Fertility Institute.

Labs & Future Work: Uses advanced microscopy (CARS, 3D four-wave mixing) to study lipid dynamics and fatty acid effects on oocytes. Expanding into clinical applications of PLCzeta for infertility treatment.