Dr Liberty Libby

Personal Statement

I am a research associate under the supervision of Prof Jo Fothergill, working in the field of phage biology and phage therapeutics.

I completed my MRes at the University of Liverpool in 2016, where I first developed an interest in phage biology and their potential to used as a therapeutic and I became fascinated by the topic. I went on to study phages in more detail in my PhD at Northumbria University, where I studied the role of temperate phages within the genomes of P. aeruginosa that cause chronic lung infections. This lead to me having a more balanced view on the use of phages as therapeutics knowing that in their temperate form they are able to potentially strengthen the bacteria leading to a worse infection.
The use of phages as therapy is what originally inspired me to work in the field of phage biology, therefore after completing my PhD in 2020 I started a post-doc here at the University of Liverpool with Prof Jo Fothergill and Dr Rachel Floyd funded by Kidney Research Northwest. The project involved isolating and testing phages from the environment to use as a therapeutics in urinary tract infections (UTIs).

As I was coming to the end of my post-doctoral project an exciting opportunity arose to work with a industrial collaborator CPI to work on the manufacturing of phages to a standard to that could be used in clinical trials which is not yet been done in the UK. I was successful in receiving a research in residence (RiR) grant funded by Innovation Launchpad Network+, the RiR scheme will allow me to work within and industry environment using knowledge transfer between academia and industry to investigate how to scale up and manufacture novel phage therapy in the UK. Translating phage therapy into a product that can be used in the UK is something I'm passionate about therefore getting the opportunity to help innovate the manufacturing process brings together all the work I've done in the phage field over the past 8 years.