Applied Microbiology research
We study the causes, diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases associated with human, veterinary and agricultural pathogens.
Our research areas include
- Development of rapid diagnostics
- Genomics and transcriptomics of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens
- Vaccine design and evaluation
- Discovery of novel antimicrobials
- Molecular pathogenesis of infectious diseases
- Environmental microbiology
- Pathogen evolution
- Uncovering antimicrobial resistance determinants
Diseases we research include
- Antimicrobial-resistant infections (including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia pseudomallei, coli, and Haemophilus influenzae)
- Beta-haemolytic streptococcal infections
- Chlamydial Infections
- Gut and urinary tract infection
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Mosquito-transmitted infections (including dengue, and Ross River and Malaria)
- Viral infections (including SARS-CoV-2, Hendra and Nipah viruses)
Collaborations
The group also collaborates with key international networks and federations for microbial systematic and bacterial preservation for biotechnological exploitation and advancement.
Key researchers and research areas
Dr Martina Jelocnik
- Veterinary microbiology
- Molecular microbiology and epidemiology
- Molecular epidemiology and comparative genomics of chlamydial species infecting human, livestock and wildlife hosts
- Development of molecular diagnostic tests
- Investigating zoonotic potential of chlamydiae
Dr David McMillan
- Pathogenesis and prevention of Streptococcus pyogenes infections
- Discovery of novel antibiotics
- Hospital and Health acquired infections
Dr Derek Sarovich
- Bioinformatics
- Antibiotic resistance
- Diagnostics
- Microbiology
- Next-generation sequencing
Dr Nicole Masters
- Water microbiology
- Environmental microbiology
- Biomedical science communication
Associate Professor Erin Price
- Microbial (meta) genomics and (meta) transcriptomics
- Respiratory infectious diseases (cystic fibrosis, chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease, COVID-19, bronchiectasis)
- Microbiology
- Real-time PCR diagnostics
- Antibiotic resistance
- Bacterial pathogens
Associate Professor Joanne Macdonald
- Molecular engineering
- Molecular computing and automata
- Diagnostic technology
- Virology and epidemiology
- Biochemistry and drug development
- Materials science and engineering
- Biomedical and Health science
- Water and environment
Associate Professor Mohammad Katouli
- Molecular pathogenesis of septicaemic and uropathogenic E. coli and the host response to infection
- Interaction of microbial biotherapeutic with the human gut epithelium and the immune response.
- Inhibitory effect of probiotics on bacterial translocation
- Prevalence and persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in hospital, sewage and surface waters
- Microbial source tracking and the impact of faecal pollution of surface waters on human health
- Population structure of gut E. coli and their role in causing urinary tract infection
Professor Peter Timms
- Chlamydia
- Genomics
- Vaccine developments
- Diagnostics
- Molecular pathogenesis