Education

PhD Medical Microbiology

University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Thesis title: Resistance and tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to contact lens disinfection solutions

My research focused on screening a large collection of P. aeruginosa isolates from clinical ocular keratitis infections for resistance to a commercially available multipurpose contact lens disinfection solution. I also demonstrated the development of a tolerance phenotype during sub-inhibitory exposure to the disinfection solution, and identified a potential mechanism for the altered susceptibility through proteomic and transcriptomic analysis.

MPhil Medical Microbiology

University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Thesis title: Genotyping of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from pulmonary infections in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis patients

My research aimed to increase understanding of the population genetics of P. aeruginosa in chronic lung infections in people with bronchiectasis. We showed that there was little evidence of patient-to-patient transmission of P. aeruginosa between patients at treatment centers, nor was there evidence of clustering of isolates based on geographical location. We also showed that patients tended to maintain the same strain of P. aeruginosa in the lungs through many years of chronic infection with little evidence of strain replacement.

BSc (Hons) Microbiology

University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Thesis title: Tracking mutations in the genome of the Liverpool Epidemic Strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis patients

My undergraduate research project focused on identifying fixed mutations within the genome of the highly transmissible Liverpool Epidemic Strain (LES) of P. aeruginosa. The project aimed to uncover the likely order of acquisition of fixed mutations in three genes in modern isolates of LES. I was unable to elucidate the sequence of transmission events that occurred to allow for the accumulation of these fixed mutation but gained a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of pathoadaptation that are observed in chronic P. aeruginosa infections.

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