Dr Blanca Perez Sepulveda BSc Hons, MRes, PhD (She/Her)

Personal Statement

I am a Molecular Microbiologist interested in how bacteria and phages interact and survive in their environments, their genomic architecture, and the molecular mechanisms of phage resistance. My current research involves using a combination of functional genomics & transcriptomics, genomic epidemiology, and phenotypic characterisation to understand the epidemiology, virulence determinants, and environmental reservoir of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella and their phages. I also led the 10,000 Salmonella Genomes project, an international collaboration that sequenced Salmonella from Low- and Middle-income countries, and contribute to the Challenge Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (CHANTS) Consortium to develop a non-typhoidal Salmonella controlled human infection model.

Prizes or Honours

• Unsung hero - EDI Champion (NPDC23, 2023)
• Infection Science Award (Microbiology Society, 2023)
• Finalist - Biological and Biomedical Sciences (STEM for Britain, 2022)
• Johnston Researcher Development Fund (Institute of Integrative Biology, 2019)
• Best PhD thesis award (Faculty of Sciences, University of Warwick, 2016)
• Best teaser talk (IIB away day, 2016)
• 1st place in the 2017 Christmas card competition (Vice Chancellor, University of Liverpool, 2017)