Dr Callum Clark MSci, MRes, PhD

Dr Callum Clark

Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Contact details

Callum Clark’s research focuses on characterising the efficacy of novel antimicrobial therapies and interventions, and the barriers to the implementation of these novel antimicrobial therapies by host factors, within an in vivo setting.

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Qualifications

  • PhD in Antimicrobials & Antimicrobial Resistance, University of Nottingham, 2023
  • MRes in Antimicrobials & Antimicrobial Resistance, University of Nottingham, 2019
  • MSci Biological Sciences, University of Birmingham, 2018

Biography

Callum Clark is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the lab of Professor Joan Geoghegan. His research career has focused on finding alternative ways to treat bacterial infections, through the discovery and development of new antimicrobial therapies. His PhD work, at the University of Nottingham with Professor Liz Sockett FRS involved the characterisation of the host immune response to the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, with the aim of elucidating the barriers to implementing Bdellovibrio as a novel antimicrobial intervention for the treatment of bacterial infection. 

As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr Clark currently studies how acetic acid can be incorporated into novel dressings, with the aim of reducing colonisation by the common burn wound pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and reducing burn wound infection and morbidity within a clinical setting. 

Dr Clark also actively researches how Cell Wall Anchor Proteins contribute to virulence, infection and Staphylococcal pathogenesis.

Teaching

Callum has previously led Small Group Teaching Sessions on the topics of AMR/One Health and Microbiomes

Postgraduate supervision

Callum currently takes an active role in the supervision of several PhD and Masters students within the lab.

Anyone interested in studying the molecular aspects of Staphylococcal colonisation and virulence should contact Professor Joan Geoghegan (j.geoghegan@bham.ac.uk).

Research

Dr Clark’s current research focuses on understanding how novel dressings can be used and implemented to reduce bacterial colonisation within wounds, by measuring the antimicrobial efficacy of these dressings against the common burn wound pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Key areas of interest include:

Investigating the antimicrobial efficacy of acetic acid against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa within biofilms and wound environments.

Investigating how cell wall anchor protein expression is affected throughout bacterial growth and in response to (human) host factors.

Publications

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus uses chimeric fibre proteins to recognise and invade a broad range of bacterial hosts. Simon G. Caulton, Carey Lambert, Jess Tyson, Paul Radford, Asmaa Al-Bayati, Samuel Greenwood, Emma J. Banks, Callum Clark, Rob Till, Elisabete Pires, R. Elizabeth Sockett and Andrew L. Lovering. Nature Microbiology 2024; 9(1): 214-227. Doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01552-2. PMCID: PMC10769870. PMID: 38177296.

The Hidden Cost of Modern Medical Interventions: How Medical Advances Have Shaped the Prevalence of Human Fungal Disease. Callum Clark & Rebecca Drummond. Pathogens. 2019 Jun; 8(2): 45 Doi: 10.3390/pathogens8020045 PMCID: PMC6631793 PMID: 30987351

Pseudomonas aeruginosa inhibits Rhizopus microsporus germination through sequestration of free environmental iron. Courtney Kousser, Callum Clark, Sarah Sherrington, Kerstin Voelz and Rebecca A. Hall. Sci Rep. 2019; 9: 5714. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42175-0. PMCID: PMC6450908. PMID: 30952923. 

 Simultaneous viscoelasticity and sprayability in antimicrobial acetic acid-alginate fluid gels. Thomas E Robinson, Callum Clark, Richard J A Moakes , Zoe Schofield , Naiem Moiemen, Joan A Geoghegan, Liam M Grover. Biomater Adv. 2024 Sep 23;166:214051. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.214051. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39357110.