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Ecology and Conservation

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About me:

I Professor of Microbiology, working on the evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions. My lab studies how ecological variables drive the evolution of various immune strategies in bacteria, with an emphasis on CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems, and examines their coevolutionary consequences. Bacteria encode lots of different immune mechanisms, and my team studies the interactions between defence systems. My team further studies the evolution of viral communication systems, patterns of antibiotics-phage synergy and antagonism, and interactions between the microbiome and anti-phage defence evolution.

I am a member of the Environment and Sustainability Institute and the Biosciences department of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.

View my lab website here

Interests:

Evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions
Coevolution of bacteria and phage
Evolution of parasite host range and virulence
Antibiotics-phage synergy/antagonism
Evolution of viral communication
Defence interactions
Microbiome-defence interactions

Qualifications:

2020 & 2021 Finalist Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK
2020 Fleming Prize from the Microbiology Society
2020 Philip Leverhulme Prize in Biological Sciences
2016 Heineken Young Scientist Award for Biochemistry and Biophysics (awarded by the KNAW, the Dutch royal society for science)
2014 Westerdijk Award for best Ph.D. research in Microbiology in the Netherlands (awarded by the KNVM, the Dutch society for microbiology)
2013 Westenbrink Award for best Ph.D. research in Biochemistry in the Netherlands (awarded by the NVBMB, the Dutch society for biochemistry and molecular biology)
2013 PhD Microbiology (University of Wageningen)

Career:

2019 Professor / NERC Independent Research Fellow
2017 Associate Professor / NERC Independent Research Fellow
2016 Senior Lecturer / NERC Independent Research Fellow
2015 Lecturer / NERC Independent Research Fellow
2013 Marie-Curie postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter
2013 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Wageningen

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