Background

I graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2010 with a BSc (Hons) in Equine Science where I focused on distal limb wound healing and the wound microbiome. This led onto a scholarship funded Medical Microbiology MSc at Cardiff Metropolitan University specialising in Streptococcus pyogenes, biofilms and novel antimicrobial treatments. After the MSc, I worked in industry as a Conjugation/QC Scientist at BBI Solutions. This role involved developing procedures to conjugate bio-molecules to colloid and QC testing rapid diagnostic assays. In 2013, I started at Cardiff University with Professor Eshwar Mahenthiralingam on a BBSRC funded PhD in collaboration with Unilever as an industrial CASE sponsor. The research used a combination of whole genome sequencing, transposon mutagenesis, RNA-Seq and genome-scale metabolic modelling to identify key genetic pathways involved in industrial Pseudomonas aeruginosa preservative resistance.

Current Project

I started my position as a post-doctoral research associate in October 2017 at the Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology. I am working with Dr. Daniel Neill on a Wellcome Trust and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship grant investigating the genetic and molecular basis of niche adaptation in Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus). Through experimental evolution of pneumococcus, this project aims to identify pathoadaptive mutations associated with nasopharyngeal carriage, pneumonia and meningitis. RNA-Seq analysis of infected tissues will also be implemented to establish the impact of the mutations on bacterial gene expression. Through the classification of mutations and changes in gene expression associated with pneumococcus infection, we aim to identify vaccine candidates and targets for therapeutic intervention.

Publications

Green, A.E., Rowlands, R.S., Cooper, R.A. and Maddocks, S.E., 2012. The effect of the flavonol morin on adhesion and aggregation of Streptococcus pyogenes. FEMS microbiology letters, 333(1), pp.54-58.

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