Group Leader
Pathogen variation
Our aim is to understand how genomic differences between closely related bacterial pathogens impact on how they interact with the environment and with the host. We will use this information to improve food safety by developing innovative new methods of pathogen surveillance, diagnostics or intervention that will reduce the risk of foodborne disease or the development and transmission of antimicrobial resistance. This knowledge will also help us better understand the microbiome and the complex interplay with between it, pathogens and the host, and could also lead to novel therapeutics to treat diseases.
With a principal interest in the foodborne pathogen Salmonella enterica, we combine genomic, transcriptomic and other ‘omics data to generate hypotheses that are then tested using classical molecular biology, models of infection, imaging, and high throughput phenotyping platforms in the lab.