Overview

The Scientific Seminar Series is designed to reach the microbiology community to disseminate knowledge across its professional networks. The events are designed as a regularly repeated series of short (typically 1–2 hour) online meetings.

The Journal of Medical Microbiology (JMM) monthly seminar series is designed to showcase high-quality and timely research from the journal’s key authors. JMM welcomes everything from laboratory research to clinical trials, including bacteriology, virology, mycology, and parasitology. The JMM seminars will reflect this same comprehensive scientific content.

Organising Committee 2023/24
  • Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, USA)
  • Professor Jose-Luis Puente (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)
Organising Committee 2022/23
  • Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, USA)
  • Dr Norman Fry (UK Health Security Agency, UK)
  • Dr Tim Inglis (University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia)

Sign up to attend this series of seminars via the 'Registration' tab. Instructions on how to join the Zoom session will be sent ahead of each seminar.

Please note all times listed on the programme are in BST (UK time).

Registration

Sign up to attend this series of seminars below. You will receive an email with information about each upcoming presentation, including joining instructions, a Zoom link, and any other relevant information, two days before each seminar. A second reminder email will be sent one hour before each seminar. Unfortunately, if you have signed up less than one hour before the seminar you will not be able to attend until the next seminar in the series.

Please note all times listed on the programme are in GMT (UK time).


 * By completing and submitting this form, you understand, and hereby consent that the personal data provided by you in this form will be collected, processed and used by the Microbiology Society to send you any communication relating to the event. You understand and hereby consent that the personal data provided by you in this form will be collected, processed and used by the Microbiology Society for the following additional purposes, but only if you tick the relevant box above. The Microbiology Society is the data controller for the purpose of Data Protection Legislation. The Microbiology Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (Charity Number 264017), a charity registered in Scotland (Charity Number SC039250) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England (Company Number 1039582).
Technology

All seminars will be run via Zoom, a link for which will be sent to you via email prior to the meeting. Please ensure you have updated to the latest version of the Zoom desktop or mobile application (version 5.3 or higher is recommended).

Speaker profiles

Lucy Thorne
© Lucy Thorne

Lucy Thorne – 25 October 2024

Lucy Thorne is a new group leader and lecturer at Imperial College London. Her research is focussed on understanding how emerging viruses overcome our frontline defence against new viruses, the innate immune system, and how pandemic viruses do this so effectively. For the past 10 years, she has run public engagement programmes in infectious disease in the UK and Sierra Leone.


Kendra Rumbaugh
© Kendra Rumbaugh

Prof Kendra Rumbaugh, Ph.D. – 27 September 2024

Prof Kendra Rumbaugh, Ph.D. is a Full Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Director of the Burn Center of Research Excellence at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She received her PhD in Medical Microbiology from TTUHSC and performed postdoctoral training at the University of California at San Francisco, both in the area of bacterial pathogenesis. Dr. Rumbaugh’s translational research focuses on understanding and treating wound infections, and she is especially interested in how biofilms, polymicrobial interactions and cell-to-cell signalling contribute to infection. She is an honorary fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology. She joined the Journal of Medical Microbiology editorial board in 2022. 

Email: [email protected]


Lysangela Alves 150x150.png
© Lysangela Alves


Dr Lysangela Alves – 28 June 2024

Lysangela Alves has a degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Paraná (2004), a master's degree in sciences (Biochemistry) from the Federal University of Paraná (2006) and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (2010). Since 2012, she has been a public health researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, at the Carlos Chagas Institute (ICC), a technical-scientific unit of Fiocruz in Paraná. Lysangela’s main area of ​​research is Molecular Microbiology, addressing the transport of RNA molecules in extracellular vesicles and their role in pathogenesis and modulation of host gene expression during infection, using fungi Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida auris as models.


You-Hee Cho
© Dr. You-Hee Cho

Dr You-Hee Cho – 31 May 2024

Program of Biopharmaceutical Science and Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, CHA University, Korea

Dr. You-Hee Cho is a Full Professor at CHA University College of Pharmacy. He got his PhD in February 1999 at Seoul National University and started his tenure-track professor position in March 2002 at Sogang University after his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has served for Korean scientific societies and funding agencies and received several awards: KMB Excellent Young Scientist Award (2009), MSK Senior Researcher Award (2019), JM Excellent Article Award (2020), and Minister’s Commendation (2021). Dr. Cho has been focusing on platform technology R&D for next-generation antibiotics and pharmabiotics, which are mostly based on synthetic biology of bacteriophage (phage) lifecycles and materials. A major strength of his research is to exploit a small-scale animal model using Drosophila melanogaster for infection and colonization caused by pathogenic or pharmabiotic bacteria. His group is very much interested in phage-bacteria and bacteria-bacteria interactions to uncover the previously unidentified molecular determinants in those interactions, which could be harnessed for new antibiotic and pharmabiotic discovery.


Dr Peter V Coyle 150x150.png
© Peter V Coyle

Dr Peter V Coyle – 23 February 2024 

MD FRCPath Senior Consultant – Head of Virology Hamad Medical City Doha, State-of-Qatar
Dr. Peter Coyle is a senior consultant and head of virology at Hamad Medical Corporation Qatar (HMC), where he joined in March 2017. He is qualified in medicine and has received training in microbiology and virology in Belfast and Atlanta. Dr. Coyle has been admitted as a Fellow of the College of Pathologists (London) and has completed a Doctoral Thesis at Queen's University Belfast. He was appointed consultant clinical virologist in Belfast in 1986 and holds an honorary post of Professor of Microbiology with the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute For Experimental Medicine, QUB, and an adjunct professorship in the BRC of Qatar University. During the pandemic in Qatar, Dr. Coyle was a member of the Hospital Operational Response Team and The MOPH Strategic Group (NHSCG), leading on 3 publications. He has co-authored or led on 214 publications in PubMed. He is also a member of the WHO TPP Group for MPOX diagnosis and currently chairs the Hospital DLMP Research Committee. Dr. Coyle is undertaking studies on (a) the impact of air quality on respiratory virus infections and hospital admissions and (b) the POCT use of prototypic pan-bacterial 16S RTPCR / WGS for HAP/VAP.
 
Twitter: @Pvcoyle

Kalai Mathee
© Kalai Mathee

Prof Kalai Mathee  24 September 2021, 28 January 2022, 26 August 2022, 27 January 2023 and 26 January 2024 seminars

Editor-in-Chief (2017-2022), Profile Editor, Journal of Medical Microbiology
Professor, Florida International University, Miami, USA

Professor Kalai Mathee, MSc, PhD, MPH, renowned at Florida International University (FIU), is celebrated for her contributions to microbiology and influential role in academia. As the first FIU faculty inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology, Mathee, a Malaysian native, has achieved notable milestones. Her academic journey spans from the University of Malaya to a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and a Master's in Public Health from FIU. Mathee's career features several pioneering roles, including being the inaugural chair at FIU's College of Medicine and the first international editor of the Journal of Medical Microbiology. She became the first international Trustee and Council member of The Microbiology Society in January 2024. Her mentorship has impacted over 190 individuals, ranging from professors to middle-school students, contributing to over 170 publications and five patents. Recognitions for her mentorship include the Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentorship (2011) and the New England Biolabs Passion in Science Award (2014). Mathee has delivered over 150 lectures worldwide and engages actively in FIU's School of International and Public Affairs. She has been instrumental in establishing significant programs like the Global Health Conference and Consortium and has significantly contributed to the MLK forum. Mathee's global commitment to education and science is notable.

She was honored with the 2022 Microbiology Society Outreach Prize and has received prestigious awards, including the 2011 President's Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award and the 2021 FIU Faculty Senate Service Award. Mathee's career epitomizes her dedication to the community within FIU and in the broader realms of microbiology and Tamilar studies. Her resilience, optimism, and perseverance underscore her transformative impact in academia and beyond.


Joe James
© Joe James

Dr Joe James – 27 October 2023 Seminar 

Dr. James is the Head of Influenza and Newcastle Disease Research at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and leads a series of teams in diverse research activities. He is also the Deputy Director of the WOAH/FAO International Reference Laboratory for Animal Influenza and Newcastle Disease and UK Disease Consultant for the avian influenza virus. As well as the frontline diagnosis of notifiable avian and mammalian influenza viruses and Newcastle disease, the workgroup is supported by active research programmes across a broad range of research areas.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joe-james-virologist


Varsha Singh.png
© Varsha Singh

Dr Varsha Singh – 29 September 2023 Seminar 

Senior Lecturer at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee and Wolfson Fellow of the Royal Society
 
 
Varsha Singh obtained her Bachelor's in Science from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. During her undergraduate training, she developed an interest in host-pathogen interactions. She went on to do her Master's in science at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and studied virulence factors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She earned her PhD from the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, for her thesis on the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum pathogenesis focusing on heat shock protein 70She joined the laboratory of Dr. Alejandro Aballay at Duke University Medical Centre as a postdoc. Dr. Singh authored a well-cited study that demonstrated that Caenorhabditis elegans stress response machinery composed of heat shock proteins is required to adequately respond to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. She has also shown that G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and GPCR adaptor Arrestin in the nervous system of C. elegans regulate core immune signaling pathways. Her studies underscore the importance of the nervous system as the master regulator of systemic immune responses in multicellular organisms.
 
Dr. Singh returned to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore to establish a laboratory that utilizes C. elegans to understand how sensory neurons regulate behavioural and physiological responses to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Her lab uses a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the role of specific odor-sensory neurons. Her lab has contributed to understanding bacterial secondary metabolites, specifically volatiles, as microbe associate molecular patterns for C. elegans. Another interest of her lab is to study interspecies interaction amongst respiratory pathogens such as P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Recently, she moved to the University of Dundee.
Dr. Singh's laboratory has been funded by the Wellcome Trust Department of Biotechnology India Alliance, the Indo-French Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in India, and the Royal Society in the UK.

Rosch 150x150.png
© Jason Rosch

Dr Jason Rosch 28 July 2023 Seminar

Associate Member in the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, US

Dr. Jason Rosch received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster followed by a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis from Washington University.  He is currently an Associate Member in the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His research focuses on virulence mechanisms of pathogenic streptococci and antibiotic resistance. Work in his lab encompasses how virulence strategies and the development of antibiotic resistance differs in high-risk patient populations through both translational projects in collaboration with clinicians as well as basic research into fundamental biological processes. These studies have revealed of number of important insights in a variety of areas including viral-bacterial co-infections, recalcitrant bacterial infections in immune-compromised pediatric patients, and mechanistic dissection and targeted therapies to mitigate respiratory complications of sickle cell disease. He has published over eighty publications in the field of host-pathogen interactions and has been continuously supported by several NIH grants.


Andrew Broadbent 150x150.png
© Andrew Broadband

Dr Andrew Broadbent – 30 June 2023 Seminar

Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, US

Dr Andrew Broadbent is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland in the USA. Dr Broadbent graduated with a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Cambridge in the UK, and a PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from Imperial College London. He then undertook postdoctoral research in Virology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA, before returning to the UK to establish his own laboratory specialising in avian viruses at The Pirbright Institute. He moved back across the Pond to continue to grow his research team in 2021, where his lab currently focuses on infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), avian reovirus (ARV), and avian influenza virus (AIV). He is currently an Editor for the Journal of Medical Microbiology


Ryan Hunter 150x150.png
© Ryan Hunter

Dr Ryan Hunter – 26 May 2023 Seminar

Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, US
Ryan Hunter is an Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Minnesota. He pursued his PhD studies at the University of Guelph (Canada) under the guidance of Terry Beveridge before undertaking postdoctoral research at M.I.T. and the California Institute of Technology with Dianne Newman. He joined the JMM Editorial Board in 2017 and is currently the Deputy Senior Editor for the Microbiome and Microbial Ecology section. Research in the Hunter lab is broadly focused on the in vivo ecology and metabolic strategies of respiratory pathogens, with a particular interest in the microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions that underlie bacterial nutrient acquisition during chronic airway disease (cystic fibrosis, COPD, chronic sinusitis).  
Professor luis 150x150.png
© Jose Luis Puente 

Professor Jose Luis Puente – 24 February 2023 Seminar

Editor, Journal of Medical Microbiology 
Professor at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), CDMX, Mexico

Professor Jose L. Puente is from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and Editor for the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

He gave his talk in the February 2023 JMM Seminar Series about how virulence gene regulates attaching and effacing of bacteria, acting as a unique toolbox.


Stephen Michell
© Stephen Michell

Dr Stephen Michell – 25 November 2022 Seminar

Senior Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology, University of Exeter, UK

Dr. Stephen Michell is a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Exeter. After graduating from Imperial College London, he undertook his Ph.D. at St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College, and the Animal Plant Health Agency Weybridge, researching lipoproteins of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Dr. Michell then moved to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories Porton Down, where his research included novel vaccines for Francisella tularensis and studying the resistance mechanisms to ricin. He then returned to academia, joining the University of Exeter, where he continued to explore human bacterial pathogens, including Clostridioides difficile and Vibrio vulnificus, focusing on secreted and cell wall proteins.


Roberto M. La Ragione
© Roberto La Ragione

Prof Roberto La Ragione – 28 November 2022 Seminar

Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Head of the School of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, UK

Roberto graduated in 1995 and then went on to study for a post graduate degree in veterinary microbiology at the RVC. In 1996 he moved to the government Veterinary Laboratories Agency to undertake a PhD on the pathogenesis of E. coli in poultry. In 2005 Roberto was appointed head of pathogenesis and control at the APHA and in 2010 he was appointed Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at the University of Surrey.

Roberto gained the FRCPath in 2010 and in 2012 was appointed the Associate Dean for Veterinary Strategy in the School of Veterinary Medicine.  In 2014 he was appointed Head of the Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases and 2019 Deputy Head of School. In 2021 he was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences and Medicine. Roberto is the Chair of the Royal College of Pathologists Veterinary Pathology Specialty Advisory Committee, Chair of the Humanimal Trust, a Trustee of the Houghton Trust, a member of the APHA Science Advisory Board, and the past president of the Med-Vet-Net Association and the Veterinary Research Club. Roberto is an Associate member of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (AECVM). In 2020 he was awarded Honorary Associateship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (HonAssocRCVS).

Roberto’s current research interests focus on AMR and understanding the pathogenesis of zoonotic bacterial pathogens. Roberto has a particular interest in the development of control and intervention strategies, including rapid diagnostics, vaccines, and probiotics for the control of pathogens such as Salmonella, Brachyspira and E. coli in food producing animals. Roberto has published over 190 peer reviewed papers in the area of microbiology.


Kim Hardie headshot
© Kim Hardie

Prof Kim Hardie – 30 September 2022 Seminar

Senior Editor, Journal of Medical Microbiology
Professor in Bacterial Pathogenesis, University of Nottingham, UK

Kim Hardie is Professor in Bacterial Pathogenesis within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham, UK, and co-leads the Division of Infection, Immunity and Microbes. She is also co-investigator in the National Biofilm Innovation Centre and co-Director for the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Programme on Antimicrobials and Antimicrobial Resistance that is held jointly with the University of Birmingham. Kim studied at the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge, UK, before undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of Victoria, Canada, and Institut Pasteur, France. She joined the JMM Editorial board in 2011 and is currently senior editor for the Pathogenicity, Virulence and Host Response section. Her research group studies how proteins are secreted and how bacteria regulate these proteins. The work specifically aims to understand the fitness burden of producing signalling molecules that are used by bacteria to communicate with each other, and how this impacts on pathogenicity. To do this, Kim’s research group have been investigating how bacteria form coordinated communities on surfaces (biofilms) including skin. State-of-the-art multidisciplinary approaches are combined with realistic infection models to investigate how antimicrobials penetrate complex biofilm structures. Her aim is to discover novel antimicrobials, or more effective combination therapies.

Kim communicates science as broadly as possible. Her portfolio of outreach activities includes the Royal Society Summer exhibition (2019, 2020), media interviews (TV and radio), science festivals, Wonder, bespoke school/NHS outreach, and learned society governance roles (Royal Society of Biology and Microbiology Society).


Rikke Meyer headshot
© Rikke Meyer

Dr Rikke Meyer –  29 July 2022 Seminar

Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark

Rikke Meyer has an MSc and PhD in microbiology and is an Associate Professor at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center at Aarhus University, Denmark. She is leading an interdisciplinary research group that combines microbiology and nanotechnology to understand how bacteria adhere to surfaces and form biofilms, and how biofilms can be prevented or treated through innovations in nanoscience, chemistry and biotechnology.

For example, her research has shown that bacteria use extracellular DNA to adhere to surfaces with a wide range of properties. DNA is a key component of the biofilm matrix in biofilms from freshwater to industrial systems and for clinically relevant pathogens. Her work on host-pathogen interactions by Staphylococcus epidermidis has provided a new understanding of how biomaterials can facilitate bacterial attachment by steering the conformation of host proteins that adsorb to the material surface.

She has collaborated with many research groups and private companies to develop antifouling or antimicrobial solutions through nanoscale coatings, enzymes, nanoparticles and nanoformulation of antibiotics. Fundamental and applied research projects go hand in hand in her laboratory, ensuring a short path from research to innovation.


Salvador Almagro-Moreno headshot
© Salvador Almagro-Moreno

Dr Salvador Almagro-Moreno – 24 June 2022 Seminar

Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

Dr Salvador Almagro-Moreno received his BS in Biology from the University of Granada and PhD in Microbiology from the National University of Ireland. Subsequently, he moved to the United States as the E. E. Just Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College, USA. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, USA. 

The Moreno Lab focuses on the emergence and evolution of bacterial pathogens. Their primary research interests include elucidating the molecular strategies that bacterial pathogens develop for host colonisation, virulence regulation and dispersal from the host. Furthermore, they are interested in connecting ecosystems with manmade environmental perturbations (e.g. climate change, pollution) to determine their pathogenic potential and transmission. His research program focuses on several pathogenic members of the Vibrionaceae, a family of aquatic bacteria, as model systems. In addition, investigations emphasize the intestinal pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which represents a paradigm of infectious disease agents, and Vibrio vulnificus, a poorly understood emergent zoonotic pathogen, source of fulminant septicemia. His research approach strives to be holistic and multidisciplinary; what we call “From Bays to Bases.” It encompasses molecular biology, genomics, ecology, and pathogenesis. He believes that by understanding pathogen evolution and ecology, to ultimately gain the knowledge that will allow forecasting the traits of emergent virulent strains, predict the sources of outbreaks, and designing reliable treatments against bacterial threats.

Research in the Moreno Lab has been funded by the US National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the Binational Science Foundation. Dr Almagro-Moreno has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Scialog Fellowship on Mitigating Zoonotic Threats. He recently became one of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease.

To learn more about the Moreno Lab, please visit www.vibriocholerae.org.


Arnoud van Vliet headshot
© Arnoud van Vliet

Dr Arnoud van Vliet – 27 May 2022 Seminar

Senior Editor, Journal of Medical Microbiology
Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, UK

Dr. Arnoud van Vliet is a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Surrey, UK. He received his Ph.D. in infectious diseases from the University of Utrecht in 1995 and has led research groups at the Erasmus MC Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK. His research focuses on zoonotic bacterial pathogens such as Campylobacter, Listeria, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella. While he trained as an experimental scientist, he moved into the area of genomics/bioinformatics, intending to use genome sequencing and analysis technologies to understand better bacterial virulence, biology, epidemiology, and antimicrobial resistance. One of his goals is to make bioinformatics/genomics more accessible and user-friendly to novice users. He is currently Senior Editor of the Molecular and Microbial Epidemiology section of JMM and has been an editor of microbiology journals since 2003.


Dr Sixto M. Leal Jr. headshot
© Sixto M. Leal Jr.

Dr Sixto M. Leal Jr. M.D, PhD – 25 February 2022 Seminar

Director, Clinical Microbiology, Fungal Reference Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

Dr. Leal has a broad background in microbiology, immunology, molecular biology and medicine with residency training in pathology and subspecialty fellowship training in medical microbiology. He received his MD/PhD training in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Case Western Reserve University, pathology residency training at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and Microbiology fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology in Clinical Pathology and Medical Microbiology and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology. He has a special clinical and research interest in medical mycology and has been at the forefront of COVID-19 diagnostic response and the study of COVID-Associated 2° mold infections.


Norman Fry
© Norman Fry

Dr Norman K. Fry PhD – 26 November 2021 seminar

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Medical Microbiology
Consultant Clinical Scientist, Laboratory Surveillance Lead – Vaccine Preventable Bacteria, UK Health Security Agency, London UK

Norman is a Consultant Clinical Scientist and Laboratory Surveillance Lead for Vaccine Preventable Bacteria at the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Colindale, London, UK. The UKHSA brings together the health protection functions of Public Health England and National Health Service Test and Trace, including the Joint Biosecurity Centre. Norman is also Head of the Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Section which includes the National Reference Laboratories for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Bordetella pertussis and diphtheria. His laboratory also hosts the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre (WHO CC) for Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae (Co-Heads: Norman Fry & David Litt) and the WHO CC for Diphtheria and Streptococcal infections (Head, Prof Androulla Efstratiou). Norman is also Co-Editor-in-Chief (with Prof Kalai Mathee) for one of the Microbiology Society journals, the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

Norman completed a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Virology from the University of Warwick in 1984, and was awarded a PhD on Legionella in 1992 whilst at Colindale.  From 1992-1995 he moved to the USA to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship exploring microbial populations in the deep subsurface at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, with field trips to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington State to filter many litres of groundwater. He returned to Colindale, public health microbiology and Legionella in 1996, then moved into working on the bacteria causing vaccine preventable diseases.


Tim Inglis
© Tim Inglis

Dr Tim Inglis 29 October 2021 seminar

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Medical Microbiology
Associate Professor, University of Western Australia Medical School, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perth, Australia

Tim Inglis is a UK-trained medical microbiologist, who migrated via Singapore to Australia, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Medical Microbiology. His work on emerging infectious diseases in Western Australia has emphasised capability building in regional, rural and remote locations where pathology support is lacking. Currently, much of his time is taken up on COVID laboratory activities, and if it weren’t for the pandemic, he would be working flat out on new methods for rapid diagnosis of systemic, drug-resistant infections in regional Australia. In his spare time, he enjoys trail running and looking after a smallholding.


Lynn Silver headshot
© Lynn Silver

Dr Lynn Silver 27 August 2021 seminar

Pediatrician, public health advocate and independent research consultant

Dr Lynn Silver received her PhD in Molecular and Microbiology at Tufts University in 1975 and did postdoctoral work at the University of Geneva and NIH. In 1982, she joined Merck Research Laboratories, where she conducted research and supervised groups in discovery efforts for new antibacterials in both natural products and chemical collections. She oversaw various programs involving inhibitors of DNA and cell wall synthesis, participated in the discovery of the first published inhibitors of LpxC and the novel antibiotic platensimycin (FabF inhibitor). Her group also supported many chemistry efforts toward improving classic antibiotics, such as macrolides, glycopeptides and carbapenems, to overcome resistance. She was a member of several drug-development project teams including that of the carbapenem INVANZÒ. As a member of an in-licensing committee, she was involved in due diligence of academic and biotech projects and compounds.

After taking early retirement from Merck, she became an independent consultant in antibacterial discovery and pre-clinical development in 2004.  Throughout her career, she has authored significant research papers and reviews in the field of bacterial genetics, physiology, and biochemistry, as well as the challenges to discovery of antibacterial agents. Currently, she has been participating in scientific advisory boards of several groups funding antibiotic discovery and development.

Past seminars

Lessons from phage-bacteria interactions – Friday 31 May 2024

14:00–15:00                             Lessons from phage-bacteria interactions
Dr You-Hee Cho (College of Pharmacy and Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, CHA University, Korea)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

The role of National Influenza Centers in preparing for seasonal and pandemic respiratory viruses – Friday 23 February 2024

14:00–15:00                              The role of National Influenza Centers in preparing for seasonal and pandemic respiratory viruses
Dr Peter V Coyle (Hamad Medical City Doha, State-of-Qatar)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

Mastering the Art of Scientific Review: A Comprehensive Guide to Critiquing Published Articles – Friday 26 January 2024

14:00–15:00                              Mastering the Art of Scientific Review: A Comprehensive Guide to Critiquing Published Articles
Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, Miami, USA)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

An update on high pathogenicity avian influenza – Friday 27 October 2023

14:00–15:00                              An update on high pathogenicity avian influenza
Dr Joe James(Head of Influenza and Newcastle Disease Research at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA))
15:00–15:30 Q&A

Toroidal displacement of Klebsiella pneumoniae by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a unique mechanism to avoid competition for iron – Friday 29 September 2023

14:00–15:00                              Toroidal displacement of Klebsiella pneumoniae by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a unique mechanism to avoid competition for iron 
Dr Varsha Singh (Senior Lecturer at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee and Wolfson Fellow of the Royal Society)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

New Insights into Pneumococcal Pathogenesis and Antibiotic Resistance – Friday 28 July 2023

14:00–15:00                              New Insights into Pneumococcal Pathogenesis and Antibiotic Resistance
Dr Jason Rosch (Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

Understanding the pathogenesis of avian viruses with a view to improving control – Friday 30 June 2023

14:00–15:00         
Understanding the pathogenesis of avian viruses with a view to improving control

Dr Andrew Broadbent (University of Minnesota, US)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

When good bugs go wild: The role of commensal microbiota in chronic airway disease – Friday 26 May 2023

14:00–15:00         
When good bugs go wild: The role of commensal microbiota in chronic airway disease

Dr Ryan Hunter (University of Minnesota, US)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Virulence gene regulation in attaching and effacing bacteria: a unique toolbox – Friday 24 February 2023

14:00–15:00         
Virulence gene regulation in attaching and effacing bacteria: a unique toolbox

Professor Jose Luis Puente (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), CDMX, Mexico)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

First impression: how to make a perfect pitch? – Friday 27 January 2023

14:00–15:00         
First impression: how to make a perfect pitch?

Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, Miami, USA)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Lipoproteins as candidate vaccines for health care acquired infections – 25 November 2022

14:00–15:00         
Lipoproteins as candidate vaccines for health care acquired infections

Dr Stephen Michell (University of Exeter, UK)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Exploring the microbiomes of animals in health and disease – 28 October 2022

14:00–15:00         
Exploring the microbiomes of animals in health and disease 

Professor Roberto La Ragione (University of Surrey, UK)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Interrogating biofilms to improve antimicrobial options to combat rising resistance – 30 September 2022

14:00–15:00         
Interrogating biofilms to improve antimicrobial options to combat rising resistance
Dr Kim Hardie (University of Nottingham, UK)
 
15:00–15:30 Q&A

How to prepare compelling slides and deliver an effective oral presentation – 26 August 2022

14:00–15:00         
How to prepare compelling slides and deliver an effective oral presentation

Dr. Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, US)      

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Biofilms: bacterial fortresses that cause chronic infections – 29 July 2022

14:00–15:00         

Biofilms: bacterial fortresses that cause chronic infections
Dr Rikke Meyer (Aarhaus University, Denmark)                              

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Cholera: the forgotten pandemic – 24 June 2022

14:00–15:00         

Cholera: the forgotten pandemic
Dr Salvador Almagro-Moreno (Univerity of Central Florida, USA)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

The wondrous world of pathogen genomics and molecular epidemiology: dos, don'ts and other stories – 27 May 2022

14:00–15:00                            

The wondrous world of pathogen genomics and molecular epidemiology: dos, don'ts and other stories
Dr Arnoud van Vliet (University of Surrey, UK)

15:00–15:30 Q&A

Tackling COVID-19 in the clinical and mycology research lab – 25 February 2022

14:00–15:00          Tackling COVID-19 in the clinical and mycology research lab
Dr Sixto M. Leal Jr. (University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

How to improve your manuscript writing skills by dissecting its anatomy – 28 January 2022

14:00–15:00                 How to improve your manuscript writing skills by dissecting its anatomy
Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, Miami, USA)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

Diphtheria: the strangling angel – 26 November 2021

14:00–15:00 Diphtheria: the strangling angel
Dr Norman Fry (UK Health Security Agency, UK)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

COVID-19: a lesson in pandemic preparedness – 29 October 2021

14:00–15:00            COVID-19: a lesson in pandemic preparedness
Dr Tim Inglis (University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and variants: myths, misconceptions and facts – 24 September 2021

14:00–15:00                SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and variants: myths, misconceptions and facts
Professor Kalai Mathee (Florida International University, Miami, USA)
15:00–15:30 Q&A

Antibiotics: challenges of antimicrobial discovery revisited – 27 August 2021

14:00–15:00          Antibiotics: challenges of antimicrobial discovery revisited
Dr Lynn Silver (independent public health expert)
15:00–15:30 Q&A