Infections by microorganisms – viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic – are responsible for a huge global disease burden that has profound social and economic costs.

Antimicrobials have been a powerful weapon in the control of infectious disease but the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through their excessive or inappropriate use, has created a looming crisis that needs urgent solutions. Research in this domain addresses the rapid rise of AMR and also the emergence of microbes with epidemic and pandemic potential, which together represent some of the most serious challenges facing humanity.

Our research uses a wide range of systems and techniques that combine experimental and computational approaches to address the fundamental biology of microorganisms; from their physiology to their interactions with host, other microbes and their environments, as well as the host immune response to infection.

We also study the emergence and distribution of microbial strains, genes and mobile genetic elements to inform the development and deployment of vaccines and antimicrobials and use epidemiological analyses to assess vaccine efficacy.

Focus areas

Our research within this domain focusses on:

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
• Bacterial and fungal pathogenesis and virulence factors
• Pharmaceutical strategies to treat infections
• Immune evasion and host responses
• Vaccine development
• Host behaviour and disease transmission
• Molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genomics
• Microbial stress responses and signal transduction
• Non-coding RNAs and fine-tuning of bacterial physiology
• Microbial ecology and microbiomes
• Biogeography of pathogenic fungi
• Bacterial biofilms and microbiomes
• Bacteriophage
• Molecular genetic basis of helminth parasitism