Antibiotic resistant pathogens research group team

Bacterial pathogen research group:

Professor Mat Upton (Group Lead) – medical microbiology and antibiotic discovery

Dr Katie Sealey (Research Fellow) – bioinformatic vaccine design to reduce antibiotic use in animals

Martha Nash (Research Associate) - ABX initiative administrator

Matthew Koch (PhD student) – mining deep sea sponges for novel antibiotics

Poppy Best (PhD student with Dr Kerry Howell, School of Biological and Marine Sciences) – ecology and antimicrobial activity of marine sponge microbiota

James Butler (PhD student with Dr Alex Besinis, School of Engineering) – antimicrobial surfaces for infection control in hospitals

Dr Grant January (Research Fellow) - Natural product discovery for novel antibiotics - South Africa-UK Antibiotic Accelerator Hub

Jazz Conway (PhD student with Prof Kerry Howell, School of Biological and Marine Sciences) - Discovery of marine natural product antibiotics

Sarah Gamble (Placement student) - Isolation and characterisation of novel antimicrobial compounds from marine environments

University of Plymouth collaborators:

Dr Michael Jarvis, School of Biomedical Sciences
Professor Simon Jackson, School of Biomedical Sciences
Dr Gyuri Fejer, School of Biomedical Sciences
Dr Andy Foey, School of Biomedical Sciences
Dr Kerry Howell, School of Biological and Marine Sciences

External collaborators:

Dr Lewis Jones, Consultant Microbiologist, University of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Jonathan Cox, Aston University

Dr Ian Fotheringham, Ingenza Ltd, Edinburgh

Dr Max Ryadnov, National Physical Laboratory

Professor Mark Schembri, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Dr Scott Beatson, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Prof Rosie Dorrington, Rhodes University, South Africa

Prof Melody Clarke, British Antarctic Survey

Recent Alumni:

Dr Nizar Saeedi – host-pathogen interaction of uropathogenic E coli - Now Assistant Professor of Medical Microbiology at University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Dr Rob O’Hara – epidemiology and genomics of uropathogenic E coli - Now Clinical Scientist, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Abdu Aldarhami – discovery of novel bacteriocins with clinical potential - Now Assistant Professor of Medical Microbiology at Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia

Interested in joining us?

We may have opportunities available for self-funded PhD students to join the team. If you would like to discuss the potential to work with the Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens Research group, please get in touch with Professor Mat Upton directly.