Graham Timmins

Biography

Timmins was educated at the University of Leeds in England, receiving a BS in biochemistry in 1986 and a PhD in biochemistry in 1990. He served as a research assistant professor at Dartmouth College and as a senior researcher at the University of Wales College of Medicine before joining the UNM faculty in 2001.

Research Interest

Timmins' areas of research include the use of stable isotope-labeled compounds in drugs and diagnostics and the study of free radical biology in infectious disease and melanoma. Some of his recent work has focused on developing rapid stable isotope-based breath tests to diagnose lung infections and determine bacterial antibiotic sensitivity in a point-of-care manner. He has eight issued patents and is a co-founder and chief science adviser of Avisa Pharma, a diagnostic drug and device company using Timmins’ technology to develop a breath test to detect and monitor infection in the lungs of patients with tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, and ventilator-associated and health care associated pneumonias (VAP and HCAP). Currently funded work focuses upon developing breath tests for rapid antibiotic sensitivity tests for TB and other diseases. Other recent work focuses on utilizing novel isotope effects to enhance the activity of key TB drugs such as isoniazid, with significant enhancement seen in vitro and in vivo.