Group Leader CV
University Education
1985-1988 First class honours degree in Microbiology (BSc), University of Newcastle, United Kingdom. Awarded June 1988.
1988-1991 Ph. D. Research Student, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom. Thesis title: 'Cell wall assembly in Gram positive bacteria.' Awarded December 1991.
Career Since Graduation
1991-1992 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 'A study of macromolecular synthetic events during the division cycle of Gram negative bacteria.'
1992-1994 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. 'Analysis of environmental and genetic factors controlling phase variation of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli.'
1994-1998 Medical Research Council Career Development Fellow, Department of Microbiology, University of Newcastle, NE2 4HH. 'Pathogenesis of Escherichia coli: regulation of bacterial adhesion.'
June 1996 Visiting research Fellow for six months at the Institute for the Molecular Biology of Infectious Disease, Würzburg, Germany.
1998-1999 Lecturer in Bacteriology, Department of Veterinary Pathology, The University of Edinburgh, Summerhall, Edinburgh, EH9 1QH.
1999-2004 DEFRA Senior Research Fellow in Microbiology/Pathology, Division of Veterinary Pathology, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG.
2004-2006 Reader in Molecular Microbiology, University of Edinburgh.
2006+ Professor of Microbial Genetics, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Chancellor’s Building, University of Edinburgh.
Major grants awarded (Principle investigator – PI; Co-applicant - CA)
DEFRA Veterinary Training and Research Award (VTRI). Integration of functional genomics and immunology and their application to infectious disease in ruminants. Sept. 2004 – Aug. 2009 (CA).
LINK grant: DEFRA with Novartis Animal Vaccines Ltd. Vaccination strategies for control of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 in cattle. Nov.. 2005-Oct 2008. (PI).
FSA grant with SAC. Detection of Sorbitol-fermenting E. coli O157 strains. Nov 2007 – April 2009. (CA).
Wellcome Trust research grant: The regulation of virulence loci in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli by PerA, B and C. June 2002 - May 2007 (ext). (PI).
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Escherichia coli interventions and control. June 2003 – Mar. 2007 (ext). (CA).
Wellcome Trust research grant: Cross-talk between adhesin gene clusters in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. March 2003 - August 2006 (ext). (PI).
BBSRC research grant. The molecular basis to Escherichia coli O157:H7 colonisation of the terminal rectum in cattle. Dec. 2003 – Nov. 2006. (PI).
Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Veterinary Research Fellowship in Microbiology/Pathology, Oct. 1999 – Sept. 2004. (PI).
Scottish Higher Education Funding Council refurbishment and equipment costs with the DEFRA Fellowship. (PI).
BBSRC research grant: analysis of novel adhesin gene clusters in Escherichia coli O157. January 2002 – May 2005 (ext). (PI).
Research funded by Novartis Animal Vaccines Ltd towards vaccine development against enterohaemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7. April 2003 – March 2005. (PI).
BBSRC research grant: cross-regulation between adhesin gene clusters in Escherichia coli. May 1999 – April 2002. (PI).