Staff in the Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes

Prof Blair’s research is focused on understanding how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics with a particular interest in the role of efflux pumps. She is also looking at how we might be able to inhibit efflux pumps to combat antibiotic resistance.

Dr Buckner is a Associate Professor in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. Her team's research focuses on understanding plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance in clinically-relevant Gram-negative bacteria. Research in Dr Buckner’s group focuses primarily on:

• Understanding how plasmids impact the host bacteria.
• Understanding plasmid dynamics among populations.
• Devising ...

Dr David Cleary is a microbiologist and microbial bioinformatician whose research interests relate to bacterial pathogens of the human airways. Topics include population genomic epidemiology and intra-host evolution, as well as the roles of these pathogens in acute or chronic respiratory diseases, and general function within the airway microbiome.

Dr Cox is a microbial ecologist who studies the bacteria that reside in the respiratory tract in the context of respiratory diseases. These can be chronic diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Cystic Fibrosis, or acute infections such as following a viral infection. He is interested in the function of the respiratory microbiota and how it interacts with the human ...

Lucy is a glycobiologist and studies how gut microbes and pathogens use human-derived glycans as a nutrient source. Current projects include 1) looking at how infant-associated bacteria use glycans in breast milk and 2) how common human bacterial pathogens use mucins.

Lucy is part of the team at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. 

Dr Ferguson is an Assistant Professor of Infection Biology within the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. He is a molecular virologist and works on host-virus interactions that influence infection outcome. This research predominantly focuses on viruses that cause cancer and how factors (both host and virus) regulate viral gene expression. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Ferguson ...

Professor Lindsay Hall is Chair of Microbiome Research and a Wellcome Investigator. Leading a dynamic, multidisciplinary team, she is on a mission to unravel the mysteries of how host-associated microbial communities foster well-being. Her research is focused on the critical early stages of life, including pregnancy and infancy, where the colonisation of microbes like Bifidobacteriumcoincides ...

Alan McNally is a Professor in Microbial Genomics and works on the evolutionary genomics of pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens.  Alan has also been funded by the European Union, Medical Research Council and Royal Society.

Alan has a strong belief in the collaborative nature of genomics research with active collaborations in the UK, China, Germany, France, ...

Dr Rossiter's research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis, with a particular interest in Salmonella spp. and Helicobacter pylori infections. Dr Rossiter is investigating how H. pylori-mediated modulation of the hosts immune system and gastrointestinal microbiome can lead to the development of gastric cancer or, on the contrary, protect against auto-immune disorders, such as Inflammatory Bowel ...

Willem van Schaik is Professor of Microbiology and Infection in the Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes in the School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology.

He has published more than 80 papers in the field of molecular microbiology, the human microbiome and antibiotic resistance. He has received major grants from BBSRC, the European Commission , the Joint Programming ...