Project title
‘Improving embryological procedures in pigs’
Profile summary
I have been employed as a part-time Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Katie Fowler and Professor Simon Harvey and part-time University Instructor at Canterbury Christ Church University since December 2016. My Ph.D. is somewhat unique as it is industry-linked and hence, most of my laboratory work is carried out at the Life Sciences Industry Liaison Lab at Discovery Park, Sandwich.
Prior to starting at CCCU, I graduated with a BSc in Medical Bioscience from Monash University in April 2014, after which I went on to work as a voluntary research technician at the University of Kent, in a laboratory that was interested in both mammalian embryology and molecular cytogenetics.
Research and knowledge exchange
Although several approaches which have successfully produced porcine embryos in vitro have been previously developed, upscaling the process remains challenging due to a number of reasons which include high endogenous lipid content, high incidence of polyspermy and the notorious “four-cell block” – a well-known but not very well understood phenomenon which describes the pattern observed during pig embryo development, where in vitro embryo development rates from the 1- or 2- cell embryo to the 4-cell stage are lower than rates seen with in vivo produced 4-cell embryos that are then cultured in vitro.
My research, in collaboration with Genea Biomedx, Topigs Norsvin and JSR Genetics Ltd., aims to address these challenges and improve overall embryological processes in pigs. The three key themes within my research are 1) gamete analysis using morphology and cytogenetic tools to aid in the identification of high quality sperm and oocytes; 2) optimisation of maturation and embryo culture media specific to each stage of embryonic development in pigs (key here is that the media are chemically defined and are of a consistently high quality – the use of chemically defined media would permit identification and analysis of how various essential components would have an impact on successful embryonic development) and 3) optimisation of vitrification and warming protocols primarily using Gavi®, the world’s first semi-automated vitrification device (a product by Genea Biomedx) for pig oocytes and embryos.
As a member of the Biomolecular Research Group I am also interested in cytogenetics including comparative genomic studies in a wide variety of species.
Teaching and subject expertise
- Level 0 – Foundation Skills; Foundation Biology
- Level 4 – Diversity of Life; Genetics and Evolution
- Level 5 – Reproduction and Development; Anatomy and Physiology
- Level 6 – Animal Health and Genetics
Publications
- Fowler, K.E., Mandawala, A.A., et al., (2018). The role of chromosome segregation and nuclear organisation in human subfertility. Biochemical Society Transactions, under review.
- Mandawala, A.A., Fowler, K.E., et al., (2018). The production of pig preimplantation embryos in vitro: Current progress and future prospects. Reproductive Biology, 18(3), 203-211.
- Mandawala, A.A., Skinner, B.M., et al., (2018). Sperm morphology differences associated with pig fertility. BioRxiv, preprint.
- Damas, J., O'Connor, R., Farré, M., Lenis, V.P.E., Martell, H.J., Mandawala, A.A., et al., (2017). Upgrading short-read animal genome assemblies to chromosome level using comparative genomics and a universal probe set. Genome Research, 27(5), 875-884.
- Mandawala, A.A., Harvey, S.C., et al., (2016). Time-lapse embryo imaging and morphokinetic profiling: Towards a general characterisation of embryogenesis. Animal Reproduction Science, 174, 2-10.
Other external activities
- Ambassador for CCCU at Big Bang Fair, Discovery Park, March 2016.
- Ambassador for CCCU at Science Jamboree, Discovery Park, June 2016.
- Ambassador for CCCU at the Global Village exhibition, Dane Court Grammar School, Broadstairs, June 2016.