I am currently a PhD Student at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences at the University of Liverpool. I began my studies at the University of Exeter, where I obtained my BSc in Biological Science, specialising in Microbiology and Infectious Disease. Following this I completed my MSc in Medical Microbiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. For my MSc research project, I optimised a method of CRISPR interference for targeted gene knockdown in Mycobacterium smegmatis.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) is the predominant cause of death in people with cystic fibrosis, the most common inherited genetic condition of Caucasians. Recent work from my project supervisors has described how host innate immune defence molecules can shape the processes of Pa adaptation and evolution within the respiratory tract, and has highlighted the ability of Pa to sense and respond to host signalling molecules. The aim of my PhD is to determine how Pa identifies and responds to host peptide signalling molecules, the consequences for infection outcome, and the processes of bacterial adaptation and evolution.
The behavioural switch triggered by recognition of host cationic peptides is a defence mechanism, and emerging evidence demonstrates it has important consequences for evasion of host immunity, attachment to host surfaces, virulence factor production and antibiotic resistance. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in this interkingdom signaling may reveal opportunities for therapeutic intervention designed to block bacterial recognition of host signals, thus stalling the bacterial behavioural switch.
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