Who's who

Brendan Gilmore

President

Brendan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy (1999) and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry (2004) from Queen’s University Belfast. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Pharmaceutics (Pharmaceutical Microbiology) in July 2004 in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s. In 2005 he was a visiting researcher in the laboratory of Prof Howard Ceri, University of Calgary, where he remains a visiting scientist in the Biofilm Research Group. He was promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology in 2015. His research aims to elucidate the mechanistic and biochemical pathways central to the process of microbial biofilm formation and to uncover novel targets for prevention of microbial biofilms; spanning microbiology, chemical biology, and synthetic/medicinal chemistry directed toward antimicrobial and anti-biofilm applications. His main interests include the role of proteolytic enzymes in biofilm formation and development of novel approaches for biofilm control in chronic infections. He has an active research interest in antibiotic biodiscovery from marine bacteria and achaea (extreme halophiles). Brendan is the 2013 recipient of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Science Award for his research contributions in the field of biofilm control and pharmaceutical microbiology. He is an editor of the textbook ‘Hugo & Russell’s Pharmaceutical Microbiology’ (8th Ed) and is responsible for teaching all aspects of pharmaceutical microbiology and infectious diseases to undergraduate pharmacy students at QUB.

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

Ian Feavers

Scientific Programme Secretary

Ian studied for his PhD at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, eventually moving to NIBSC after periods of postdoctoral research in molecular genetics at the University of Sheffield and the Friedrich Miescher Institut in Basel. During the late 1990s, when new conjugate vaccines were being introduced, he headed the laboratory responsible for the control and standardisation of meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. Ian continues to oversee an active research programme on the molecular genetics and immunology of meningococcal antigens. Because of his broad experience of bacterial vaccines and molecular biology, he has been closely involved with a number of meningococcal vaccine developments. He regularly contributes to WHO and EU guidelines, has been an advisor to the International Vaccine Institute’s typhoid conjugate vaccine initiative, and serves on the PHE’s invasive bacterial diseases forum. He is one of NIBSC’s observers on Joint Vaccination and Immunisation Committee (JCVI) and a member of the JCVI subgroups on meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. He is a former editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and is currently an associate editor of Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. He has over 100 publications most of which are peer reviewed research papers. Ian teaches on vaccine related courses in the University of London and at the University of Surrey, and is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College.

Oern Greif

Treasurer

Oern has been a member of the Society since 2019.  Oern started his professional career in finance where he spent 22 years in investment banking, specifically structuring, sales and trading in debt capital markets at Barclays, Nomura and BNP Paribas. He spent a further six years in systems & operations, heading BNP Paribas’ division responsible for middle & back-office services for structured bonds & loan funds.  Oern graduated from UCLA (BA), Sciences Po (Diplomé), and the Sorbonne (DEA) with degrees in Literature, Politics and Economics.

Elaine Cloutman-Green

Committee Member

Dr Elaine Cloutman-Green has worked as a Clinical Scientist since 2004. In 2015 she completed a PhD under the NIHR CSO Doctoral Fellowship scheme and her research on prevention of healthcare associated infection led to an NIHR ICA Clinical Lectureship award in 2016. In 2015 she was appointed the first UK based International Ambassador for the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. In 2016 she became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Royal College of Pathologists and was appointed as a NICE Expert. She represents Healthcare Scientists as part of the ACB, and as Country Ambassador for the American Society of Microbiology.

Catherine Ludden

Committee Member

Catherine Ludden obtained a BSc in Medical Science from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. In 2010, Catherine decided to further investigate the genetic diversity, transmission and evolution of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in nursing homes and hospitals during her PhD at the National University of Ireland Galway. Having completed her PhD, Catherine moved to the University of Cambridge to take up a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in Professor Sharon Peacock's group at the Department of Medicine. In April 2016, she joined the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases as a Sir Henry Postdoctoral Wellcome Fellow. Her research is based on a One Health approach to investigate the origin and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli in the UK. This involves the use of whole-genome sequencing to determine the genetic relatedness of isolates and associated mobile genetic elements from different sources to define shared reservoirs. She is also working on integrating whole genome sequencing into health services for the surveillance of Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Ireland. In 2019, Catherine joined the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to provide expertise in Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections. During her time at ECDC, she will be responsible for providing scientific advice and will help with the development of surveillance systems and analysis of whole genome data.

Sally Cutler

Committee Member

Sally's passion for microbiology started with a BSc degree course from University College London from which she graduated in 1981. Sally then worked in diagnostic bacteriology laboratories at The Royal London and Stoke Mandeville Hospitals before moving into a research role on Lyme borreliosis based at Charing Cross Hospital (now part of Imperial College London). Whilst in this post, Sally obtained her PhD in 1992 through part-time study. Sally was awarded the W H Pierce Prize in 1994 and currently holds a Readership in the School of Health and Bioscience at the University of East London. She additionally serves as an associate editor for Clinical Microbiology & Infection and for Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, as a member of the IBMS Virology Advisory Panel, and on the IBMS London Regional Panel. Her research interests are still largely focussed upon spirochaetes and bacterial zoonoses, particularly those with an impact upon developing countries. Sally has been a member of SfAM since the days when it was the Society for Applied Bacteriology. She currently serves on the Meetings Subcommittee and has been a regular participant at SfAM meetings for a number of years, both as a presenter and member of the audience.

Emmanuel Adukwu

Committee Member

Emmanuel completed a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Northampton, investigating community acquired infections and identifying decontamination and control measures.  He is currently a Senior Lecturer and Department lead for Employability at UWE Bristol where he is involved in Biomedical Science and Public Health teaching and research at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is also a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA). His research is dedicated to studying the survival strategies in bacteria and fungi as well as antimicrobial resistance and infection control in diverse communities with particular interest in preventing and managing infectious diseases in Africa.  

Passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, Emmanuel has been recognised for his contributions with a National Diversity Award nomination in 2019 (UK), institutional awards and the Bristol BME Powerlist100 in 2018. He is passionate about global education and mentoring and has been a member of the Society for Applied Microbiology for over 10 years and previously served as Events Coordinator and Chair of the Early Career Scientist committee.  

Marcela Hernandez Garcia

Committee Member

Marcela completed her PhD in Natural Resources in 2010 in Chile. After completing her PhD, she received an award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to perform her postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, in Marburg, Germany. In 2015, she moved to the UK to become a NERC research fellow in Environmental Microbiology at the University of Southampton (UoS). Marcela is currently a a Senior Research Associate in the group of Colin Murrell at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. . Her career is dedicated to studying how microbial communities establish in soils perturbed either by human manipulation or natural disturbance, specifically methanogens in paddy rice soils, carbon monoxide oxidisers in volcanic soils, antimicrobial resistance in agricultural soils and the resilience of microbial communities in archived soils. She uses high-throughput sequencing and stable-isotope probing to assess community diversity and function. Marcela is editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and has been a member of the SfAM since 2017. Marcela is highly involved in outreach, receiving in 2017 the UoS “Research Communicator Road-show Award” for outstanding public engagement. Marcela is also a Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) visiting professor at the Institute of Soil Science CAS-Nanjing, China.

Stephen Forsythe

Committee Member

Professor Forsythe's career has included both academic and industrial research and development, as well as regulatory and advisory roles. His research has encompassed conventional microbiology (physiology and biochemisty), through molecular profiling, to full genome analysis.

Suzy Moody

Committee Member

Suzy completed a Microbiology degree at Cardiff University, then took the unusual step of doing her Post-Graduate Diploma in Adult Nursing. She studied for her MSc Infectious Disease with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a distance learning student, while working full time as an ICU nurse. On completion of her Masters, she spent the next few years working in clinical settings in both Africa and Asia. She came back to the UK in 2009 to do her PhD at Swansea University, looking at novel antimicrobial metabolites produced by Streptomyces bacteria. Her post-doctoral work focussed on transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics of a variety of environmental microbes. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Solent University, and busy establishing her own research group which will indulge her passion for understanding how microbes survive stress and do interesting things.

Mike Dempsey

Committee Member

Mike’s interest in microbiology began when he was about 10 and his grandmother bought him a toy microscope, but it was not until he reached university that he really became interested in the subject. Following a highly successful MSc in Biodeterioration of Materials under the charismatic Gareth Jones, Mike stayed on at Portsmouth Polytechnic to do a PhD in marine bacterial fouling. Mike went on to use adhesive yeast and bacteria in the development of a fluidized bed fermenter for fuel ethanol production as a Postdoc in Bernard Atkinson’s inspiring Biochemical Engineering Group at UMIST. Following appointment as a Lecturer in the burgeoning Biology Department at Manchester Polytechnic, Mike designed a new Fermentation Laboratory and continued his research on fuel ethanol production. Due to waning interest in fuel Mike switched his interest to enzyme, antibiotic, and plant secondary metabolite production. Later, Mike instituted a project to develop an expanded bed biofilm reactor to nitrify wastewater treatment plant effluents as a tertiary treatment. The success of this project led to the incorporation of a spin-out company, Advanced Bioprocess Development Ltd. (ABD), which now has a full-scale prototype operated at a UK water company site by a Licensee.

Phillip Butterick

ECS Committee Chair

Phil completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences (Cardiff Metropolitan University) in 2013. Phil then moved on to work for the NHS pathology department specializing in microbiology. During his time there Phil has developed an interest in the isolation, identification and treatment of pathogenic bacteria and has seen the prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Phil has since left the NHS employ due to his interest in the development of new antibacterial agents. Phil is currently completing his PhD in Medical Microbiology with Dr. Rowena Jenkins and in conjunction with industry partner Neem Biotech Ltd. The project aims to determine the effects of a novel new bacterial agent against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Phil joined the ECS committee in January 2018 and hopes to raise the awareness of SfAM across all sectors that employ microbiologists and how they can assist people who are new to the field.

Lucy Harper

Chief Executive

After completing a BSc in Medical Biochemistry at Birmingham University, Lucy worked in hospital laboratories and university departments across the West Midlands. In 2003 she completed a PhD entitled: "Renal Dopamine and Salt-Sensitive Hypertension" and continued her research career, completing several postdoc projects. During this time, Lucy also taught molecular biology practical classes to final year BSc students and spent her spare time writing articles for various publications. Through this experience she decided that her passion for science came from talking about it rather than doing it. She was offered the honorary Editorship of Microbiologist magazine and when her postdoc contract ended, she took the position of Communications Officer for Med-Vet-Net, the EU FP6 project on zoonotic disease. Lucy began working as Communications Officer for SfAM in June 2006. Since then, she has developed SfAMs Communications remit and in June 2009 she was promoted to Communications Manager. In 2010 Lucy was awarded a MBA with distinction, which she completed part-time at Aston University. After a period of maternity leave, Lucy returned to the Society as Deputy CEO, and was then appointed as Chief Executive in November 2014.

Lucy Harper

Chief Executive

After completing a BSc in Medical Biochemistry at Birmingham University, Lucy worked in hospital laboratories and university departments across the West Midlands. In 2003 she completed a PhD entitled: "Renal Dopamine and Salt-Sensitive Hypertension" and continued her research career, completing several postdoc projects. During this time, Lucy also taught molecular biology practical classes to final year BSc students and spent her spare time writing articles for various publications. Through this experience she decided that her passion for science came from talking about it rather than doing it. She was offered the honorary Editorship of Microbiologist magazine and when her postdoc contract ended, she took the position of Communications Officer for Med-Vet-Net, the EU FP6 project on zoonotic disease. Lucy began working as Communications Officer for SfAM in June 2006. Since then, she has developed SfAMs Communications remit and in June 2009 she was promoted to Communications Manager. In 2010 Lucy was awarded a MBA with distinction, which she completed part-time at Aston University. After a period of maternity leave, Lucy returned to the Society as Deputy CEO, and was then appointed as Chief Executive in November 2014.

Ali Morse

VA to the Chief Executive

Ali has been working as a VA for 6 years, after 8 years working for the Chief Executive of BBSRC. She supports Lucy Harper with all aspects of her diary and helps to co-ordinate meetings, events and anything else that is asked of her!

Tina Sellwood

Finance and Grants Coordinator

Tina has been working for membership associations for the last thirteen years in a Membership Services Manager role, during which time has been involved in a wide variety of areas. Tina has responsibility for the administration of grants and the day-to-day financial housekeeping for the Society.

Kathryn Spiller

Head of Publishing

Kathryn began her career in publishing at Taylor & Francis and subsequently Informa Healthcare, where she held  a number of editorial roles in biomedical journals. She joined the Society for Endocrinology/Bioscientifica in 2008 where she managed the commercial and client side of the publishing business before being promoted to Head of Publishing in December 2011. She doubled the publishing portfolio during her seven years in this role, launching the Society’s first open access journals. In May 2019 she joined Jisc with the remit of engaging with society publishers to offer transformative agreements to the UK market. She achieved agreements with 19 publishers during her 18 months in the role. She joined SfAM in January 2021

Paul Sainsbury

Head of Communications & Business Development

Paul initially trained as a journalist and has over fifteen years’ experience in marketing and communications working for commercial companies such as Harrods and the Freeplay wind-up radio. His passion for science comms took him back to University and he completed a PhD at the University of Warwick entitled Biocatalytic Valorisation of Lignin via Genetic or Chemical Intervention of Bacterial Aromatic Degradation Pathways. . Paul is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing, communications and membership strategies for the Society. He is responsible for increasing the value of Member benefits through the development of key partnerships, digital platforms, public engagement activities and brand management. He also offers support to the SfAM's ECS Committee and corporate partners.

Laura Lincoln

Events and Projects Manager

Laura manages the Society's event strategy and is responsible for the implementation, delivery and running of SfAM-related events – both face-to-face and online events.

Luwam Mekonen

Member Relations and Communications Officer

As SfAM's Member Relations and Communications Officer, Luwam is the first point of contact for members. Luwam composes the newsletter and official mailings, as well as handling incoming emails and calls on all aspects of the membership and other company activities. After graduating in Politics and International Relations, Luwam has been working within professional membership organisations, specialising in member communications and services. Luwam is also closely involved in the ongoing development of the Society website and CRM with the aim of encouraging better engagement with our existing membership base.

Robert Millar

Digital Communications and Engagement Officer

Robert became a part of the SfAM staff in September 2019, after an internship with SfAM in 2016 and being on the ECS committee since 2017 in the role of Social Media Officer. From 2019 until the end of 2020, Robert's responsibilities as Science Development officer included interfacing with outreach and public engagement activities, procuring content for SfAM's blogs, news and Microbiologist magazine, as well as overseeing the development of SfAM's website. Since 2021 Robert has been the Society's Digital COmmunications and Engagement Officer, incorporating the previous role as well as aiding in SfAM's transition to digital events and acting as staff liaison to SfAM's ECS Committee. Prior to working for SfAM, Robert was a PhD applicant at the University of Warwick, after completing a masters in biochemistry at the University of Oxford and Philipps-Universität Marburg.

Lisa Rivera

Policy & Public Affairs Manager

After completing an MA in International Relations at the University of St Andrews and MSc in Global Politics at the London School of Economics, Lisa worked for politicians in both London and New York. Her experience of providing constituent support and conducting policy research while assisting these elected officials led to a career focused on promoting public interest policies. Prior to joining SfAM, Lisa was part of the Policy and Public Affairs Team at another membership organisation. As the Policy and Public Affairs Manager at SfAM, Lisa is responsible for leading the Society’s external engagement programme in order to promote the profile of members and the impact of their work.

Lucky Cullen

Science Policy Officer

Lucky completed her undergraduate degree in Medical Biochemistry at Kingston University in 2014, where her passion for microbiology originated through summer research internships and a research scholarship funded by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). A recurring factor in all of her research was antimicrobial resistance including next generation sequencing techniques to identify antimicrobial resistance within the nasopharyngeal niche, pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation and the bacterial profiling of mastitic cows. Lucky progressed onto a PhD at Kingston University, where she developed an experimental evolution tool to explore the phenotypic and genotypic mutational pathways underlying the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli. During her PhD Lucky attended many ECS and SfAM conferences, as well as events such as Parliamentary Links Day. Lucky presented her research at the ECS Research Symposium in 2016, and was given the opportunity to present at the SfAM Antimicrobial Resistance Meeting. Lucky was then awarded the SfAM presidency fund to present at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) conference in New Orleans. 

Abraham Glover

Business Technology Manager

Abraham as SfAM’s Business Technology Manager is tasked with ensuring that technologies we use in the Society deliver the best value for our Members. Operating with the key focus on utilising how technologies and its governance can support and enhance the way we work. Abraham’s experience spans both the public and private sector covering a range of roles from being a system’s engineer specialising in biometric facial recognition to service operations management of media applications for a Russell Group University. This experience of working with a range of peoples and professions enable Abraham to provide guidance and support to SfAM

Chris Bonfante

Operations and Governance Manager

Chris provides key support to the Chief Executive, SfAM Team, Executive Committee and Trustees to achieve the strategic objectives of the society.

Kofo Balogun

Head of Human Resources

Tumi Ladele

HR and Recruitment Coordinator

Oern Greif

Treasurer

Oern has been a member of the Society since 2019.  Oern started his professional career in finance where he spent 22 years in investment banking, specifically structuring, sales and trading in debt capital markets at Barclays, Nomura and BNP Paribas. He spent a further six years in systems & operations, heading BNP Paribas’ division responsible for middle & back-office services for structured bonds & loan funds.  Oern graduated from UCLA (BA), Sciences Po (Diplomé), and the Sorbonne (DEA) with degrees in Literature, Politics and Economics.

Mike Poole

Finance Audit & Risk Subcommittee member

Mike is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience of working in the charity sector. He has been the Finance & Commercial Director at the British Pharmacological Society since 2013, where he is responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of Corporate Services and the Membership function, providing a robust platform that enables the Society to undertake its work.

Geoff Hanlon

Finance Audit & Risk Subcommittee member and President (2008-2010)

Geoff graduated in 1975 with a degree in Pharmacy from what was then Brighton Polytechnic. Following pre-registration training at the Royal East Sussex Hospital in Hastings he became a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1976. His interest in microbiology did not begin until he embarked on a PhD, again at Brighton Polytechnic, on endospore formation in Bacillus species. Having gained his PhD in 1980 he joined the academic staff at Brighton where he was a general dog’s body and taught just about everything. Over the intervening period Geoff has supervised 30 PhD students mostly, but not exclusively, in the area of microbiology. His research interests have centred on pharmaceutical microbiology and included infections associated with implanted medical devices; microbial biotransformation of xenobiotics; mode of action studies of biocidal agents and alternative strategies for infection control. He has published over 100 peer reviewed research papers and is co-editor of a text book on microbial standards and regulations for the pharmaceutical industry.

Ian Feavers

Scientific Programme Secretary

Ian studied for his PhD at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, eventually moving to NIBSC after periods of postdoctoral research in molecular genetics at the University of Sheffield and the Friedrich Miescher Institut in Basel. During the late 1990s, when new conjugate vaccines were being introduced, he headed the laboratory responsible for the control and standardisation of meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. Ian continues to oversee an active research programme on the molecular genetics and immunology of meningococcal antigens. Because of his broad experience of bacterial vaccines and molecular biology, he has been closely involved with a number of meningococcal vaccine developments. He regularly contributes to WHO and EU guidelines, has been an advisor to the International Vaccine Institute’s typhoid conjugate vaccine initiative, and serves on the PHE’s invasive bacterial diseases forum. He is one of NIBSC’s observers on Joint Vaccination and Immunisation Committee (JCVI) and a member of the JCVI subgroups on meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. He is a former editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and is currently an associate editor of Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. He has over 100 publications most of which are peer reviewed research papers. Ian teaches on vaccine related courses in the University of London and at the University of Surrey, and is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College.

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

Mike Dempsey

Committee Member

Mike’s interest in microbiology began when he was about 10 and his grandmother bought him a toy microscope, but it was not until he reached university that he really became interested in the subject. Following a highly successful MSc in Biodeterioration of Materials under the charismatic Gareth Jones, Mike stayed on at Portsmouth Polytechnic to do a PhD in marine bacterial fouling. Mike went on to use adhesive yeast and bacteria in the development of a fluidized bed fermenter for fuel ethanol production as a Postdoc in Bernard Atkinson’s inspiring Biochemical Engineering Group at UMIST. Following appointment as a Lecturer in the burgeoning Biology Department at Manchester Polytechnic, Mike designed a new Fermentation Laboratory and continued his research on fuel ethanol production. Due to waning interest in fuel Mike switched his interest to enzyme, antibiotic, and plant secondary metabolite production. Later, Mike instituted a project to develop an expanded bed biofilm reactor to nitrify wastewater treatment plant effluents as a tertiary treatment. The success of this project led to the incorporation of a spin-out company, Advanced Bioprocess Development Ltd. (ABD), which now has a full-scale prototype operated at a UK water company site by a Licensee.

Brendan Gilmore

President

Brendan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy (1999) and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry (2004) from Queen’s University Belfast. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Pharmaceutics (Pharmaceutical Microbiology) in July 2004 in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s. In 2005 he was a visiting researcher in the laboratory of Prof Howard Ceri, University of Calgary, where he remains a visiting scientist in the Biofilm Research Group. He was promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology in 2015. His research aims to elucidate the mechanistic and biochemical pathways central to the process of microbial biofilm formation and to uncover novel targets for prevention of microbial biofilms; spanning microbiology, chemical biology, and synthetic/medicinal chemistry directed toward antimicrobial and anti-biofilm applications. His main interests include the role of proteolytic enzymes in biofilm formation and development of novel approaches for biofilm control in chronic infections. He has an active research interest in antibiotic biodiscovery from marine bacteria and achaea (extreme halophiles). Brendan is the 2013 recipient of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Science Award for his research contributions in the field of biofilm control and pharmaceutical microbiology. He is an editor of the textbook ‘Hugo & Russell’s Pharmaceutical Microbiology’ (8th Ed) and is responsible for teaching all aspects of pharmaceutical microbiology and infectious diseases to undergraduate pharmacy students at QUB.

Lucy Harper

Chief Executive

After completing a BSc in Medical Biochemistry at Birmingham University, Lucy worked in hospital laboratories and university departments across the West Midlands. In 2003 she completed a PhD entitled: "Renal Dopamine and Salt-Sensitive Hypertension" and continued her research career, completing several postdoc projects. During this time, Lucy also taught molecular biology practical classes to final year BSc students and spent her spare time writing articles for various publications. Through this experience she decided that her passion for science came from talking about it rather than doing it. She was offered the honorary Editorship of Microbiologist magazine and when her postdoc contract ended, she took the position of Communications Officer for Med-Vet-Net, the EU FP6 project on zoonotic disease. Lucy began working as Communications Officer for SfAM in June 2006. Since then, she has developed SfAMs Communications remit and in June 2009 she was promoted to Communications Manager. In 2010 Lucy was awarded a MBA with distinction, which she completed part-time at Aston University. After a period of maternity leave, Lucy returned to the Society as Deputy CEO, and was then appointed as Chief Executive in November 2014.

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

John Threlfall

Policy Subcommittee Member

Since being awarded a PhD in Microbial Genetics in 1969, John Threlfall has worked in the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) (formerly the Public Health Laboratory Service, now Public Health England) in a variety of roles. Most recently he served as Director of the HPA Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens from 2004 to 2008 and as Head of R & D in the Gastrointestinal, Emerging and Zoonotic Infections Department from 2008 to 2010. In 2007 he was appointed Project Director for the EU-funded Med-Vet-Net Network of Excellence, and continued in this role in the Med-Vet-Net Association until 2011. From 2010 to 2012 John was employed as Programme Manager for the HPA for the EU-funded EURLOP (EU Human Reference Microbiology Options Project) and ECDC-funded EU-LabCAT project, which were targeted at rationalising various aspects of human reference microbiology within the EU. The recommendations from these projects are currently being implemented. He was appointed to the European Food Safety (EFSA) Biohazards (BIOHAZ) Panel in 2009 and has recently been elected for a second three-year term of office. His principal interests are in antimicrobial drug resistance in bacterial zoonotic pathogens and the molecular epidemiology of food-borne zoonoses, and has published extensively in these areas.

Diane Purchase

Policy Subcommittee Member

Diane is a Professor of Environmental Biotechnology and has a keen interest in safeguarding and improving the environment. She is an alumna of King’s College London where she was awarded a PhD degree in Environmental Microbiology in 1992. As an Executive Member of the Committee of the Heads of Environmental Sciences (CHES) in the UK, a Fellow of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), Diane engages in the advancement of environmental microbiology through teaching, knowledge exchange, research and scholarship in the UK and international higher education sectors. She was appointed to the Subject Benchmark Review panel for Earth Science, Environmental Sciences and Environmental Study by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) in 2014. Diane’s research interest focuses on the role of biotechnology in pollution control and bioremediation. She has published widely and has supervised a number of PhD students in this area. She is member of the editorial boards of the two international journals published by Springer Nature: Environmental Geochemistry and Health and Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Sarah Maddocks

Policy Subcommittee Member

An enthusiastic, self-motivated microbiologist and principle investigator with extensive expertise in the field of infectious disease, a good publication record and significant experience in the design, execution and management of research projects.

Christine Dodd

Policy Subcommittee Member and President (2014-2017)

Christine's first degree was a BSc in Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester and she continued at Leicester for her PhD in Microbiology in the newly formed Microbiology Department. After research positions in the Universities of Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne, she came as a postdoc to the University of Nottingham in 1985, joining a newly revived Food Microbiology group in the then Faculty of Agriculture at Sutton Bonington. Christine was appointed as Lecturer in Food Microbiology in 1989 and after several promotions and site name changes was appointed Chair in Food Microbiology in 2006. Christine has a long association with the Society and was previously President from 2014-2017, EC Committee member from 1990-1993, and 2010-2013 and won the W H Pierce Prize in 1993.

Suzy Moody

Committee Member

Suzy completed a Microbiology degree at Cardiff University, then took the unusual step of doing her Post-Graduate Diploma in Adult Nursing. She studied for her MSc Infectious Disease with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a distance learning student, while working full time as an ICU nurse. On completion of her Masters, she spent the next few years working in clinical settings in both Africa and Asia. She came back to the UK in 2009 to do her PhD at Swansea University, looking at novel antimicrobial metabolites produced by Streptomyces bacteria. Her post-doctoral work focussed on transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics of a variety of environmental microbes. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Solent University, and busy establishing her own research group which will indulge her passion for understanding how microbes survive stress and do interesting things.

Brendan Gilmore

President

Brendan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy (1999) and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry (2004) from Queen’s University Belfast. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Pharmaceutics (Pharmaceutical Microbiology) in July 2004 in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s. In 2005 he was a visiting researcher in the laboratory of Prof Howard Ceri, University of Calgary, where he remains a visiting scientist in the Biofilm Research Group. He was promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology in 2015. His research aims to elucidate the mechanistic and biochemical pathways central to the process of microbial biofilm formation and to uncover novel targets for prevention of microbial biofilms; spanning microbiology, chemical biology, and synthetic/medicinal chemistry directed toward antimicrobial and anti-biofilm applications. His main interests include the role of proteolytic enzymes in biofilm formation and development of novel approaches for biofilm control in chronic infections. He has an active research interest in antibiotic biodiscovery from marine bacteria and achaea (extreme halophiles). Brendan is the 2013 recipient of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Science Award for his research contributions in the field of biofilm control and pharmaceutical microbiology. He is an editor of the textbook ‘Hugo & Russell’s Pharmaceutical Microbiology’ (8th Ed) and is responsible for teaching all aspects of pharmaceutical microbiology and infectious diseases to undergraduate pharmacy students at QUB.

Jacob Hamilton

Policy Subcommittee Member

Jacob started off as a chemist, completing an undergraduate degree in Pharmaceutical Science at Kingston University in 2017, including a year-long placement at GlaxoSmithKline’s Ware site. During his undergraduate, a module on infectious disease caught his attention and inspired his intertest in microbiology. Jacob then went on to do a Masters by Research in Microbiology in Prof Mark Fielder’s lab, where he investigated the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance markers in the microbiome of birds of prey, during this time he became an active member of SfAM, attending various events and writing blog pieces. Currently Jacob is conducting his PhD in Prof Matt Hutching’s lab at the University of East Anglia, where he is researching microbial symbiosis with insect and plant systems, and how these may be a source of novel antimicrobials.

Joey Shepherd

Policy Subcommittee Member

Joey is a Lecturer in Microbiology at the University of Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry. After graduating from Leeds University in 1995 with a BSc. in Microbiology, and the University of Sheffield with an M.Med.Sci. degree in Microbial Pathogenicity, Joey completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2002. She then moved to Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, to work for Prof. Peter Libby developing near infra red in vivo molecular probes. Joey returned to the University of Sheffield in 2007 as a PDRA, where she developed a 3D model of infected tissue engineered human skin, subsequently used in several further studies. Joey took up my first academic post as a Senior Lecturer in the Biomedical Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University in 2014, and was appointed to her current post in April 2015.

Lucy Harper

Chief Executive

After completing a BSc in Medical Biochemistry at Birmingham University, Lucy worked in hospital laboratories and university departments across the West Midlands. In 2003 she completed a PhD entitled: "Renal Dopamine and Salt-Sensitive Hypertension" and continued her research career, completing several postdoc projects. During this time, Lucy also taught molecular biology practical classes to final year BSc students and spent her spare time writing articles for various publications. Through this experience she decided that her passion for science came from talking about it rather than doing it. She was offered the honorary Editorship of Microbiologist magazine and when her postdoc contract ended, she took the position of Communications Officer for Med-Vet-Net, the EU FP6 project on zoonotic disease. Lucy began working as Communications Officer for SfAM in June 2006. Since then, she has developed SfAMs Communications remit and in June 2009 she was promoted to Communications Manager. In 2010 Lucy was awarded a MBA with distinction, which she completed part-time at Aston University. After a period of maternity leave, Lucy returned to the Society as Deputy CEO, and was then appointed as Chief Executive in November 2014.

Lisa Rivera

Policy & Public Affairs Manager

After completing an MA in International Relations at the University of St Andrews and MSc in Global Politics at the London School of Economics, Lisa worked for politicians in both London and New York. Her experience of providing constituent support and conducting policy research while assisting these elected officials led to a career focused on promoting public interest policies. Prior to joining SfAM, Lisa was part of the Policy and Public Affairs Team at another membership organisation. As the Policy and Public Affairs Manager at SfAM, Lisa is responsible for leading the Society’s external engagement programme in order to promote the profile of members and the impact of their work.

Lucky Cullen

Science Policy Officer

Lucky completed her undergraduate degree in Medical Biochemistry at Kingston University in 2014, where her passion for microbiology originated through summer research internships and a research scholarship funded by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). A recurring factor in all of her research was antimicrobial resistance including next generation sequencing techniques to identify antimicrobial resistance within the nasopharyngeal niche, pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation and the bacterial profiling of mastitic cows. Lucky progressed onto a PhD at Kingston University, where she developed an experimental evolution tool to explore the phenotypic and genotypic mutational pathways underlying the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli. During her PhD Lucky attended many ECS and SfAM conferences, as well as events such as Parliamentary Links Day. Lucky presented her research at the ECS Research Symposium in 2016, and was given the opportunity to present at the SfAM Antimicrobial Resistance Meeting. Lucky was then awarded the SfAM presidency fund to present at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) conference in New Orleans. 

Mark Fielder

Subcommittee member and President (2017-2020)

Mark began his career at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath where he became a trainee Biomedical Scientist. He completed a Microbiology degree at Kings College, London and followed that with a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, working on bacterial causes of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Following this he won the Tadion Rideal prize for outstanding post-graduate work in molecular science. Mark then moved on to St George's Hospital medical school to work with Professor David Lewis and Professor George Griffin on the use of Cholera toxin and the heat labile toxins of E. coli as adjuvants for mucosal vaccines. Following this, he became a Lecturer at Kingston University which is where he is currently based and in 2011 became Professor of Medical Microbiology.

Phillip Butterick

ECS Committee Chair

Phil completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences (Cardiff Metropolitan University) in 2013. Phil then moved on to work for the NHS pathology department specializing in microbiology. During his time there Phil has developed an interest in the isolation, identification and treatment of pathogenic bacteria and has seen the prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Phil has since left the NHS employ due to his interest in the development of new antibacterial agents. Phil is currently completing his PhD in Medical Microbiology with Dr. Rowena Jenkins and in conjunction with industry partner Neem Biotech Ltd. The project aims to determine the effects of a novel new bacterial agent against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Phil joined the ECS committee in January 2018 and hopes to raise the awareness of SfAM across all sectors that employ microbiologists and how they can assist people who are new to the field.

Kate Bamford

ECS Committee Secretary

Kate is currently a final year PhD student at the University of Warwick where she studies sheep mastitis, investigating the bacterial communities within the udder. She joins the committee after presenting her work at the ECS symposium in 2019 and seeing how well the committee worked together as a team to create a great event for applied microbiology. Her interest in politics and Government policy came about while she was studying the Graduate Diploma in Law, and now she hopes to use her scientific research to shape policy in the future. Kate has just finished a 3 month policy internship at Defra where she got first-hand experience on how policy is shaped and influenced by science.

Caleb Marsh

ECS Lead Communications Officer

Caleb recently completed his undergraduate degree in Medical Biochemistry at Kingston University and is about to begin a PhD at the University of Nottingham, in the field of Agriculture and Food Security. He will be selecting a title focused on Antimicrobial Resistance. Caleb has been passionate about AMR since first hearing about it while volunteering in a veterinary practice as a teenager. The importance of this issue was stressed to him and dictated his choices from that point on. He completed a summer internship assessing the antimicrobial properties of a novel coper containing fabric and in his final year dissertation project; optimising an on-site rapid diagnostic for Staphylococcus aureus in the Kingston microbiology lab. This confirmed his passion for microbiology and research. Whilst completing his undergraduate degree, Caleb enjoyed organising talks and events with fellow students. He hopes to continue this as part of the ECS committee, while continuing the effort to welcome new and current members to engage with ECS events.

Jake Bell

ECS Lead Events Officer

Jake joined the ECS committee in 2017 as the undergraduate representative, after attending the ECS Research Symposium and annual conference, observing the positive environment the Society creates for early career researchers. He recently completed his undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition at Kingston University, which included multiple summer internships in the microbiology laboratories. He also undertook a placement year at the Jodrell laboratory of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, working on plant-microbe interactions through various molecular methods. Jake is about to begin a PhD at Royal Holloway (University of London) under the supervision of Professor Paul Fraser, in plant and microbial molecular biology.

Lucas Walker

ECS Policy Officer

Lucas completed his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Sheffield in 2015, during which he worked on a number of different microbiology-focused research projects. After graduating, he worked as a research technician in a virology lab at UCL. Lucas is now undertaking his PhD at the University of Birmingham where he is looking at the regulation of infection and biofilm formation in Vibrio cholerae. During the first year of his PhD, he worked at SfAM for 3 months as a policy intern and was keen to continue supporting the work of the society thereafter.

Nasmille Larke-Mejía

ECS Welfare Officer

Nasmille is Postdoctoral Researcher at GROW Colombia working in the Agricultural Diversity Programme. She focuses on studying the microbial ecology of soils associated to different crops (sugarcane and coffee) and the Colombian Páramo environment. Nasmille is an Environmental Microbiologist, specialized in the use of cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent methods to study the microbial ecology of microorganisms in the terrestrial environment. Nasmille finished her PhD in 2018 at the School of Environmental Sciences (ENV) at University of East Anglia (UEA) funded by a Colombian government (Colciencias) Scholarship. Under the supervision of Professor J Colin Murrell, Nasmille worked on characterizing soil and phyllosphere microorganisms that use isoprene as their sole source of C using techniques including stable isotope probing (SIP), amplicon sequencing and metagenome analysis. Previously, as part of the CIMIC lab at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, Nasmille isolated and studied ANFO-degrading bacteria from an open coal mine pit and their expression of nitrogen cycle genes in presence of the explosive.

Nicola Williams

ECS Committee Industry Representative

Nicola recently joined the SfAM ECS Committee as an Industry Representative in the ECS Policy team. Nicola's interests include microbial biotechnology, biochemistry and science communication. They are also an artist and love drawing microbiology-themed cartoons!

Elitsa Penkova

ECS Lead Undergraduate Representative

Elitsa is completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter, studying Evolutionary Biology. She began her studies, with a focus on zoology and conservation, however quickly grew fascinated with the world of microbiology during her first-year lab practical classes. She spent several months volunteering at the university laboratories, where she assisted with research on the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. There she became certain transferring to her current course was the best decision for her. Recently, she completed a 12-month research internship at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), looking into the potential role of commonly used disinfectants as drivers for antibiotic resistance in the aquatic environment. She feels happiest when working in the lab and looks forward to expanding her education and pursuing a career in research.

Frazer McCuaig

ECS Undergraduate Committee Member

Frazer is an undergraduate microbiology student at Nottingham Trent University, and about to enter his third year of study. Frazer's research concerns the characterisation of the enterobacteria Klebsiella oxytoca with a focus on bioinformatics and molecular approaches. Frazer also enjoys science outreach and has attended several science festivals and school visits around Nottingham, having recently become a STEM Ambassador. When not studying he enjoys running, hillwalking, reading and cooking.

Hannah Trivett

ECS Committee Member

Hannah completed her undergraduate degree, specialising in Microbiology, at the University of Liverpool in 2020. The summer before Hannah’s final year, she was awarded a highly competitive summer stipend to characterise phenotypes of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella, under the supervision of Jay Hinton.

Returning to Liverpool for a PhD in autumn 2020, under the supervision of Alistair Darby and Christopher Quince, Hannah will explore the use of long read platforms to directly detect gastroenteric pathogens through metagenome sequencing. She will incorporate novel techniques, yet to be developed, to detect mobile genetic elements in the human gut microbiome.

Between finishing her Undergraduate degree and starting her PhD, Hannah worked as a COVID-19 Laboratory Scientist as part of a 24-hour testing service using RT-PCR antigen detection methods.

Anete Krista Salmane

ECS Committee Member

Anete is a teaching fellow at the Bio-Integrated Design programme, run between the Bartlett School of Architecture and Department of Biochemical Engineering at University College London. First completing a biology degree in Latvia, she then pursued an interdisciplinary degree in the Netherlands to gain skills in bringing biological knowledge across disciplines. On a daily basis Anete supports students in the use of scientific tools and methods to develop these as essential skills for bio-integrated designers. Specific areas of her research interests include fungal microbiology and development of biomaterials. Most recently she has participated in a research project focussing on the use of marine microalgae for aggregation of micro-plastics. 

James Williamson

ECS Committee Observer

James is currently a Post doc at the University of Warwick, focusing on engineering environmental bacteria for the utilisation of waste plant material, with an aim to produce high value products. As a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, his research centred on trying to integrate high value plant chemical biosynthetic pathways into carotenogenic members of the Enterobacteriaceae. His research interests include industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology. James joins the ECS after attending several of their events and observing how the group makes such a difference to the microbiology community.

Jennie French

ECS Committee Observer

Jennie joined the committee three years ago as the undergraduate representative. After graduating from the University of Nottingham with a BSc (Hons) Microbiology, she became the ECS communications officer. During this role and subsequently as Vice Chair, Jennie studied for an MSc in Science Communication and graduated from the University of West England in 2019. She currently works at Techniquest, the science centre in Cardiff Bay, as a content designer, focusing on working with the local communities to create engaging events and sourcing temporary exhibitions to increase the relevance of science to new audiences.

Ian Feavers

Scientific Programme Secretary

Ian studied for his PhD at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, eventually moving to NIBSC after periods of postdoctoral research in molecular genetics at the University of Sheffield and the Friedrich Miescher Institut in Basel. During the late 1990s, when new conjugate vaccines were being introduced, he headed the laboratory responsible for the control and standardisation of meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. Ian continues to oversee an active research programme on the molecular genetics and immunology of meningococcal antigens. Because of his broad experience of bacterial vaccines and molecular biology, he has been closely involved with a number of meningococcal vaccine developments. He regularly contributes to WHO and EU guidelines, has been an advisor to the International Vaccine Institute’s typhoid conjugate vaccine initiative, and serves on the PHE’s invasive bacterial diseases forum. He is one of NIBSC’s observers on Joint Vaccination and Immunisation Committee (JCVI) and a member of the JCVI subgroups on meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines. He is a former editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and is currently an associate editor of Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. He has over 100 publications most of which are peer reviewed research papers. Ian teaches on vaccine related courses in the University of London and at the University of Surrey, and is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College.

Andrew Sails

Scientific Programme Subcommittee Member

Andy is a Consultant Clinical Scientist at the Health Protection Agency Laboratory in Newcastle upon Tyne where he is Head of Molecular Diagnostics and Research and Development. His main responsibilities are the management and scientific leadership of the molecular diagnostic laboratory and all of the research and development (R&D) activities in the regional HPA laboratory. He began his microbiology career in 1991 as a trainee Biomedical Scientist at Preston Public Health Laboratory. Further postgraduate study at Preston resulted in a Masters degree in Biomedical Science and then a PhD which he completed in 2000. He then left the UK and undertook postdoctoral research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, USA. He returned to the UK in 2003 to take up his current post at Newcastle, where he leads the development and evaluation of new technology and methods for microbiological diagnosis, identification and typing within the laboratory. His main research interests include the detection and epidemiological fingerprinting of pathogens and the application of molecular diagnostic methods to clinical microbiology to aid the diagnosis and management of infectious disease. He also is a part-time lecturer at the University of Northumbria where he teaches Biomedical Science. He has served on several editorial boards including Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology and the Journal of Open Microbiology. He has been a member of the Society since 1996 and joined the Executive Committee of the Society in 2005, serving as an Ordinary Member until 2008 before becoming the Honorary Meetings Secretary in 2009. When he is not working he enjoys spending time with his family on their allotment, playing the guitar, mandolin and banjo, and socializing with friends and family.

Sally Cutler

Committee Member

Sally's passion for microbiology started with a BSc degree course from University College London from which she graduated in 1981. Sally then worked in diagnostic bacteriology laboratories at The Royal London and Stoke Mandeville Hospitals before moving into a research role on Lyme borreliosis based at Charing Cross Hospital (now part of Imperial College London). Whilst in this post, Sally obtained her PhD in 1992 through part-time study. Sally was awarded the W H Pierce Prize in 1994 and currently holds a Readership in the School of Health and Bioscience at the University of East London. She additionally serves as an associate editor for Clinical Microbiology & Infection and for Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, as a member of the IBMS Virology Advisory Panel, and on the IBMS London Regional Panel. Her research interests are still largely focussed upon spirochaetes and bacterial zoonoses, particularly those with an impact upon developing countries. Sally has been a member of SfAM since the days when it was the Society for Applied Bacteriology. She currently serves on the Meetings Subcommittee and has been a regular participant at SfAM meetings for a number of years, both as a presenter and member of the audience.

John Threlfall

Policy Subcommittee Member

Since being awarded a PhD in Microbial Genetics in 1969, John Threlfall has worked in the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) (formerly the Public Health Laboratory Service, now Public Health England) in a variety of roles. Most recently he served as Director of the HPA Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens from 2004 to 2008 and as Head of R & D in the Gastrointestinal, Emerging and Zoonotic Infections Department from 2008 to 2010. In 2007 he was appointed Project Director for the EU-funded Med-Vet-Net Network of Excellence, and continued in this role in the Med-Vet-Net Association until 2011. From 2010 to 2012 John was employed as Programme Manager for the HPA for the EU-funded EURLOP (EU Human Reference Microbiology Options Project) and ECDC-funded EU-LabCAT project, which were targeted at rationalising various aspects of human reference microbiology within the EU. The recommendations from these projects are currently being implemented. He was appointed to the European Food Safety (EFSA) Biohazards (BIOHAZ) Panel in 2009 and has recently been elected for a second three-year term of office. His principal interests are in antimicrobial drug resistance in bacterial zoonotic pathogens and the molecular epidemiology of food-borne zoonoses, and has published extensively in these areas.

Elaine Cloutman-Green

Committee Member

Dr Elaine Cloutman-Green has worked as a Clinical Scientist since 2004. In 2015 she completed a PhD under the NIHR CSO Doctoral Fellowship scheme and her research on prevention of healthcare associated infection led to an NIHR ICA Clinical Lectureship award in 2016. In 2015 she was appointed the first UK based International Ambassador for the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. In 2016 she became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Royal College of Pathologists and was appointed as a NICE Expert. She represents Healthcare Scientists as part of the ACB, and as Country Ambassador for the American Society of Microbiology.

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

Brendan Gilmore

President

Brendan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy (1999) and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry (2004) from Queen’s University Belfast. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Pharmaceutics (Pharmaceutical Microbiology) in July 2004 in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s. In 2005 he was a visiting researcher in the laboratory of Prof Howard Ceri, University of Calgary, where he remains a visiting scientist in the Biofilm Research Group. He was promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology in 2015. His research aims to elucidate the mechanistic and biochemical pathways central to the process of microbial biofilm formation and to uncover novel targets for prevention of microbial biofilms; spanning microbiology, chemical biology, and synthetic/medicinal chemistry directed toward antimicrobial and anti-biofilm applications. His main interests include the role of proteolytic enzymes in biofilm formation and development of novel approaches for biofilm control in chronic infections. He has an active research interest in antibiotic biodiscovery from marine bacteria and achaea (extreme halophiles). Brendan is the 2013 recipient of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Science Award for his research contributions in the field of biofilm control and pharmaceutical microbiology. He is an editor of the textbook ‘Hugo & Russell’s Pharmaceutical Microbiology’ (8th Ed) and is responsible for teaching all aspects of pharmaceutical microbiology and infectious diseases to undergraduate pharmacy students at QUB.

Jake Bell

ECS Lead Events Officer

Jake joined the ECS committee in 2017 as the undergraduate representative, after attending the ECS Research Symposium and annual conference, observing the positive environment the Society creates for early career researchers. He recently completed his undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition at Kingston University, which included multiple summer internships in the microbiology laboratories. He also undertook a placement year at the Jodrell laboratory of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, working on plant-microbe interactions through various molecular methods. Jake is about to begin a PhD at Royal Holloway (University of London) under the supervision of Professor Paul Fraser, in plant and microbial molecular biology.

Laura Lincoln

Events and Projects Manager

Laura manages the Society's event strategy and is responsible for the implementation, delivery and running of SfAM-related events – both face-to-face and online events.

Paul Sainsbury

Head of Communications & Business Development

Paul initially trained as a journalist and has over fifteen years’ experience in marketing and communications working for commercial companies such as Harrods and the Freeplay wind-up radio. His passion for science comms took him back to University and he completed a PhD at the University of Warwick entitled Biocatalytic Valorisation of Lignin via Genetic or Chemical Intervention of Bacterial Aromatic Degradation Pathways. . Paul is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing, communications and membership strategies for the Society. He is responsible for increasing the value of Member benefits through the development of key partnerships, digital platforms, public engagement activities and brand management. He also offers support to the SfAM's ECS Committee and corporate partners.

Mark Fielder

Subcommittee member and President (2017-2020)

Mark began his career at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath where he became a trainee Biomedical Scientist. He completed a Microbiology degree at Kings College, London and followed that with a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, working on bacterial causes of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Following this he won the Tadion Rideal prize for outstanding post-graduate work in molecular science. Mark then moved on to St George's Hospital medical school to work with Professor David Lewis and Professor George Griffin on the use of Cholera toxin and the heat labile toxins of E. coli as adjuvants for mucosal vaccines. Following this, he became a Lecturer at Kingston University which is where he is currently based and in 2011 became Professor of Medical Microbiology.

Paul Sainsbury

Head of Communications & Business Development

Paul initially trained as a journalist and has over fifteen years’ experience in marketing and communications working for commercial companies such as Harrods and the Freeplay wind-up radio. His passion for science comms took him back to University and he completed a PhD at the University of Warwick entitled Biocatalytic Valorisation of Lignin via Genetic or Chemical Intervention of Bacterial Aromatic Degradation Pathways. . Paul is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing, communications and membership strategies for the Society. He is responsible for increasing the value of Member benefits through the development of key partnerships, digital platforms, public engagement activities and brand management. He also offers support to the SfAM's ECS Committee and corporate partners.

Ayuen Lual

Features Editor

Ayuen graduated from the University of Southampton in 1999 with a BSc in Biochemistry before joining the Public Health Laboratory Service in 2001 as a Healthcare Scientist in the Food, Water and Environmental (FWE) Laboratory at Southampton General Hospital. Ayuen completed an MSc in Public Health Science (Food and Drinking Water) with the University of Hertfordshire in 2009 at the then Health Protection Agency (HPA) FWE laboratory in Colindale, London. Since 2011 Ayuen has worked for Public Health England (formerly HPA) as a Standards Microbiologist producing UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations a collection of documents (laboratory methods, algorithms and guidance notes) for use in clinical microbiology laboratories. She has been involved with the introduction of patient and public involvement in the development of UK SMIs. In 2012 Ayuen participated in the HPA Microbiology Services Olympics and Paralympics response team. Ayuen has been a member of SfAM since 2008. She is a Registered Scientist and member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease, and an affiliate member of The Royal College of Pathologists. Her interests span method development and standardisation with a focus on scientific communication and public engagement.

Nicola Stanley-Wall

Features Editor

Nicola received her PhD from the University of East Anglia in 2000 and was an EMBO Long term fellow at the University of California at Los Angeles where she was based from 2001-2005. Following being awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship she moved to the College of Life Sciences within the University of Dundee to establish her own research team. She is interested in how single celled bacteria can act at as a multicellular community to inhabit and exploit their environment. She uses a range of molecular biology techniques alongside biophysics, mathematical modelling and high powered microscopy to achieve this. She is interested in public understanding of science and always has a communication project on the go! She was promoted to Professor of Molecular Microbiology in 2015 at the University of Dundee. Nicola is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).

Louise Hill-King

Regular Content Editor

Louise graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1987 with a BSc in Chemistry and Astronomy and MSc in Medical Microbiology at Sheffield. She hasn't escaped from microbiology since. Apart from a year as a Research Scientist for Cambridge Life Sciences in Ely, she has spent all of her working life in NHS laboratories in Sheffield, Leeds, Morley and Frimley. Louise plays a vital role in the production of Microbiologist and acts as assistant editor, proof reader and regular content editor. 

Marcela Hernandez Garcia

Committee Member

Marcela completed her PhD in Natural Resources in 2010 in Chile. After completing her PhD, she received an award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to perform her postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, in Marburg, Germany. In 2015, she moved to the UK to become a NERC research fellow in Environmental Microbiology at the University of Southampton (UoS). Marcela is currently a a Senior Research Associate in the group of Colin Murrell at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. . Her career is dedicated to studying how microbial communities establish in soils perturbed either by human manipulation or natural disturbance, specifically methanogens in paddy rice soils, carbon monoxide oxidisers in volcanic soils, antimicrobial resistance in agricultural soils and the resilience of microbial communities in archived soils. She uses high-throughput sequencing and stable-isotope probing to assess community diversity and function. Marcela is editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and has been a member of the SfAM since 2017. Marcela is highly involved in outreach, receiving in 2017 the UoS “Research Communicator Road-show Award” for outstanding public engagement. Marcela is also a Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) visiting professor at the Institute of Soil Science CAS-Nanjing, China.

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

Sarah Maddocks

Policy Subcommittee Member

An enthusiastic, self-motivated microbiologist and principle investigator with extensive expertise in the field of infectious disease, a good publication record and significant experience in the design, execution and management of research projects.

Elaine Cloutman-Green

Committee Member

Dr Elaine Cloutman-Green has worked as a Clinical Scientist since 2004. In 2015 she completed a PhD under the NIHR CSO Doctoral Fellowship scheme and her research on prevention of healthcare associated infection led to an NIHR ICA Clinical Lectureship award in 2016. In 2015 she was appointed the first UK based International Ambassador for the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. In 2016 she became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Royal College of Pathologists and was appointed as a NICE Expert. She represents Healthcare Scientists as part of the ACB, and as Country Ambassador for the American Society of Microbiology.

Yemisi Jeff-Agboola

International Conference Committee Chair

Dr. Yemisi Adefunke Jeff-Agboola is the Chair of the SfAM International Conference Committee (ICC). She is a Lecturer at Biological Sciences and the Acting Director, Continuing Education Centre, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Auburn Unversity, USA,  a post-doctoral visiting scholar at Ghent University, Belgium and University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. She holds a PhD in Food Microbiology with special interests in Mycotoxicology, Food Safety and Gender Responsive Agricultural Research. Yemisi is also the President and founder of “Voice of Women in the Development of Agriculture”, an Ambassador of the World Food Preservation Center and a peer review college member of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).  

Tom Stanton

International Conference Committee Secretary

Tom obtained his BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Roehampton in 2015. Excited to put what he learned into practice, Tom became a microbiologist at Leatherhead Food Research working on a number of different food safety research projects and routine pathogen surveillance. However, with a passion for antimicrobial resistance, Tom took the microbiological skills he had learned and moved onto the BSAC Resistance Surveillance Project at Public Health England under Prof. David Livermore. It was while working for BSAC he observed the real threat of AMR and the lack of novel antimicrobials first-hand. Following a brief stint specialising in high-throughput short-read sequencing at PHE’s NGS lab, Tom undertook a PhD at the University of Edinburgh under Dr. Thamarai Schneiders. Following his passion, Tom’s project involves determining the mechanism of action and resistance to the novel antibiotic, cefiderocol. 

Zina Alfahl 

International Conference Committee Member  

Zina joined the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast, UK in September 2018 to purse her PhD degree in the relationship between airway microbiome composition, inflammation and clinical outcomes in patients with Bronchiectasis. In 2018, Zina acquired a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy from Al Ain University of Science and Technology, UAE. In 2019, she was awarded the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) award. Zina is currently the Postgraduate Chair and acting as a student representative member at the SWAN SAT team for gender equality at the School of Pharmacy, QUB. Zina is interested in engaging with scientific community and in promoting microbiology.   

Supram Hosuru Subramanya

International Conference Committee Member  

Dr. Supram HS is  a medical microbiologist, with a Doctorate in Medical Microbiology from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. Currently, he is working as Assistant Professor in MCOMS, Nepal. He is experienced in diagnostic microbiology and teaching undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. He is a member of the Infection Control Committee and Hospital Waste Management Committee at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Nepal. His area of research is infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (One-Health perspective), and emerging fungal infections. Since 2014, he has been working in various international collaborative research projects. His research yielded more than 45 publications in international medical journals.

He is also an active reviewer for several academic journals such as PlosOne, Lancet-ID, Frontiers, Journal of Chemotherapy, JAC-AMR, BMC series, EC Microbiology, AJMS, etc. He is serving as Academic Editor of PLoS ONE, Research Editor of JAC-AMR official journal of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Section Editor in Nepal Journal of Epidemiology. Based on demonstrated excellence in research and commitment to advance society, Dr. Supram is appointed as International Young Ambassador for Science to Nepal from the American Society for Microbiology in 2020. He also received more than 20 awards for his research from various international scientific societies.

Binod Rayamajhee

International Conference Committee Member  

Binod joined the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, Sydney in March 2020 to pursue his PhD project on corneal infection focusing Acanthamoeba keratitis under the supervision of Dr Nicole Carnt and Prof Mark Willcox of UNSW, Sydney and Prof Fiona L. Henriquez  from the Infection and Microbiology Research Group at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Binod holds a Master’s in medical microbiology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2017. After completion of his master, Binod worked in different organisations in his home country focusing on infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and infection control where he has cofounded a research institute in 2017 targeting infectious diseases and has received some noteworthy grants in the past. Binod has profound interest in interdisciplinary collaboration with diverse groups of people for open science, science advocacy, and science for all so, advocating, and championing for translational research are particular interests of Binod outside of his laboratory walls. On the same note, he has served as a community Ambassador of eLife Sciences Publications Ltd., UK (2019 - 2020) and an international representative for the Early Career Scientists (ECS) Committee, SfAM (2018 - 2019).   

Chika Ejikeugwu

International Conference Committee Member  

Chika Ejikeugwu (Ph.D.) is a MIF Research Fellow. He had postdoctoral training on HIV-1 at the Laboratory of Infectious Disease Model, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (2018). He holds a PhD. in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria (2017). Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is a tutor with Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. He joined the Department of Applied Microbiology in 2014, where he enjoys working closely with undergraduate and postgraduate students to help them develop their own passions for microbiology, research, teaching and other aspects of life. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the Department of Microbiology, Coal City University, Emene, Enugu, Nigeria. His areas of research interest include antimicrobial resistance (AMR), infectious diseases, novel drug discovery, HIV-1, bacteriology, virology.  

He was selected winner of the 2020 Edition of the Prof. Oyewale Tomori National Young Scientists’ Prize in Microbiology by the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA) because of his outstanding contributions in the field of microbiology in Nigeria and across Africa.  In the academic/research front, Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu has trained and mentored a generation of manpower for the microbiology sector in Nigeria. He is currently active in programmes through which he impart the knowledge and skills in the field of microbiology he has accumulated over the years from both national and international institutions, on both students and researchers across the globe. The website (https://microbiologyclass.com/) he developed is currently helping to contribute to the corpus of knowledge in the field of microbiology, and specifically AMR in Nigeria, Africa and across the globe.  

Ekene Umego 

International Conference Committee Member  

Ekene is a PhD Research Scholar at Technological University Dublin where he is working on resources assessment of the raw materials requirements, supply and by-product production in the Irish brewing and distilling sectors under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Barry Ryan and Ms. Marie Byrne. Ekene holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Nigeria with a bias in food microbiology and processing. Prior to commencement of his doctoral studies at TU Dublin, he did one year of research at Jiangsu University, China where he worked on Ultrasound Assisted Fermentation focusing on ultrasound stimulation in the synthesis of protease enzyme using Bacillus subtilis under the tutelage of Professor Ronghai He. Outside of academics, Ekene is a volunteer for ARK Missions Outreach and is passionate about youth empowerment and social problems.  

Jennifer Acuff

International Conference Committee Member  

Jennifer Acuff is an assistant professor in food safety and microbiology at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. She acquired a B.S. in Biology from Abilene Christian University in Texas and a Master’s in Food Microbiology from Kansas State University. In 2020, Jennifer graduated from Virginia Tech with a Ph.D. in Food Safety and Microbiology. Jennifer has been passionate about food safety for many years, working in research areas related to beef, ready-to-eat foods, and low-water activity foods. Her research primarily focuses on intervention technologies designed to reduce pathogen contamination at the post-harvest level. Jennifer’s university appointment also allows her to teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students, as well as engage with her local community on food safety issues. Happy and eager to approach food safety from a holistic perspective that addresses research, education, and consumer food safety, Jennifer hopes her work can be applicable to both food processors and consumers. 

Łukasz Wajda 

International Conference Committee Member  

Łukasz joined SfAM in May 2020 as an International Member. He worked in the food industry before pursuing his scientific career, going on to complete his PhD at the University of Agriculture in Kraków, preparing his thesis entitled: "Identification of fungi dominant in apple and assessing the possibility of their inhibition by adding Arthrospira platensis to apple juices". During his PhD he collaborated with food manufacturers helping them to develop innovative products or to modify technological processes carried out in their companies. He also worked as a research assistant at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Since he discovered his passion for molecular biology later on he worked in the molecular laboratory at the Oncology Centre in Kraków. Currently he is working as a Principal Investigator in the field of Microbiology at biotechnological company that focuses on the application of probiotics from human breastmilk in various products. He is also involved in other projects involving human cell lines and developing anticancer agents.   

Kwabena Duedu 

International Conference Committee Member  

Kwabena Duedu received a BSc in Medical Laboratory Science and an MPhil in Microbiology from the University of Ghana before pursuing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2012. He worked on engineering novel microbial systems for bioconversion of cellulosic biomass in the laboratory of Prof. Christopher French at the Institute of Quantitative Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology. Following his PhD, he took up a Lecturership position at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana where he also leads a research group focused on using third generation sequencing to understand microbial ecology and evolution. Specifically, he conducts research on understanding the role of the microbiome in sickle cell disease as well as using a one health and metagenomics approach to investigate distribution and spread of antibiotic resistance in Ghana. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his lab set up a testing centre that is currently providing SARS-CoV-2 testing for two of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana and some adjoining communities in other regions. His lab is also investigative the genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Ghana’s Eastern Corridor, as well as developing metagenomics-based diagnostics for fever and other disease conditions. He is a TIBA-AAS (TIBA is the NIHR Global Health Research Unit Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa and the AAS is the African Academy of Sciences) Out of Africa Fellow with the University of Edinburgh. His research under the TIBA-AAS programme is aimed at detecting infectious aetiology of fever from critically ill children using nanopore sequencing and metagenomics in Ghana. Kwabena is passionate about building biomedical research capabilities in Africa. 

Mitesh Shrestha

International Conference Committee Member  

Mitesh holds an M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is currently the Research Coordinator at Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology (RIBB), Nepal. Apart from research, he also devotes some of his time to academia as an adjunct lecturer for molecular biology and genetic engineering at the Central Department of Biotechnology, Tribhuvan University. He has received several national and international research grants to focus on antimicrobial resistance as well as neglected tropical diseases such as Leishmaniasis. His current research focuses on understanding the prevalence and distribution of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in raw fruits and vegetables.

Melissa Fallon

International Conference Committee Member  

Melissa is a postdoctoral researcher at Cardiff University where she is developing drug delivery systems to improve the outcome of ocular fungal infections. Prior to this she gained her PhD also at Cardiff in collaboration with GAMA Healthcare to improve decontamination products to reduce outbreaks of healthcare associated infections. Melissa enjoys promoting microbiology through public engagement events such as Pint of Science and Soapbox science in Wales and currently sits on the engagement committee for the Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER).

Akpan M. Friday

International Conference Committee Member  

Akpan M. Friday is a second year undergraduate microbiology student at the University of Abuja. He currently works with X-WOW, a social enterprise in the U.K aiming to establish a digital network to erase pathology borders. In a quest to envision basic microbiology knowledge in children and provide access to quality science education, he founded X-WOW Science Kids Club, an outreach group in Nigeria promoting microbial literacy and making microscopic equipment available to children in schools in underprivileged areas. He is also the initiator and coordinator of a Lecture Without Borders series that brings together microbiology literate professionals from different parts of the world to lecture students.

Friday also loves attending many online science programs. When not studying microbiology, he takes pleasure in reading motivational books and engaging in social impact projects.

Amara Anyogu

Anti-racism working group member

Amara is a Lecturer at the University of Westminster where she leads the Foundation year programme in the School of Life Sciences.  She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is intentional about creating learning environments that support the successful transition of students from diverse backgrounds into Higher Education. 

Amara completed a PhD in Food Microbiology, investigating the survival strategies of foodborne pathogens in low pH environments. Amara’s research explores the fascinating activities of microorganisms in food environments as producers, pathogens and spoilers. Her current projects focus on antimicrobial resistance in the food chain and the contribution of beneficial microbes in improving the safety and nutritional quality of indigenous fermented foods. 

Amara has been a member of the Society for over 12 years and has previously served as the Secretary of the Early Career Scientists Committee. She is the Co-Convenor of the Nigerian Applied Microbiology network, a platform for advancing microbiology knowledge and impact in Africa.

Ogechukwu Chukwuma

Anti-racism working group member

Oge is an Environmental Microbiology Doctoral student passionate about research, eager to learn and network.

Mel Lacey

Anti-racism working group member

Dr Mel Lacey has been a member of SfAM since her PhD in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Sheffield. After a BBRSC funded post doc in the same lab group she joined Sheffield Hallam University in 2013 as a Lecturer in Microbiology and became a senior lecturer in  Microbiology in 2016. Through out her scientific career she has had a keen interest in public engagement and outreach, receiving her first Public engagement grant in 2007, in the second year of her PhD. Currently, she is working with partner organisations across South Yorkshire to deliver impactful public engagement and widening participation events to wide range of participants. Her research interests, as well as public engagement and widening participation, span higher education pedagogy, production and delivery methods of novel anti-microbial agents and the impact of the microbiome of human health.   

Clare Taylor

General Secretary and Chair of the Policy Subcommittee

Clare has been a Society member since 1997, when she was a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University, where she is also Head of Student Experience and Employability in the School of Life, Sport & Social Sciences. The main focus of her research is on understanding host-microbe interactions, particularly of intracellular bacteria that cause human infection, and the aims of her research are to understand how bacterial gene expression is modulated in response to the host environment, and how this contributes to microbial pathogenicity. Clare is also involved in several multi-disciplinary projects and the applied aspects of her research include developing novel antimicrobial strategies. She has a keen interest in public engagement, including performing at Edinburgh Fringe, and also chairs the University’s Public Engagement Forum. Clare is active in encouraging women into science working alongside colleagues across STEM disciplines and Equate Scotland. Clare served on the Executive Committee of the Society from 2010 – 2014 and is also a Features Editor for Microbiologist.

Sharad Kamble

Anti-racism working group member

Dr Sharad Ramchandra Kamble has a PhD in Life Sciences ( Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences) from the University of Bradford. He is a Microbiologist with around 14 years experience with Pharma R&D, Pathology Labs, Research and Medical Devices C&D Validations.

Ayorinde Afolayan

Anti-racism working group member

Ayorinde Afolayan is a post-doctoral scientist at Okeke lab (Molecular biology lab), Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is interested in the application of genomics and metagenomics in the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals, and the environment. He joined the SFAM's anti-racism working group to promote equality and objectivity in science.

Zina Alfahl 

International Conference Committee Member  

Zina joined the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast, UK in September 2018 to purse her PhD degree in the relationship between airway microbiome composition, inflammation and clinical outcomes in patients with Bronchiectasis. In 2018, Zina acquired a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy from Al Ain University of Science and Technology, UAE. In 2019, she was awarded the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) award. Zina is currently the Postgraduate Chair and acting as a student representative member at the SWAN SAT team for gender equality at the School of Pharmacy, QUB. Zina is interested in engaging with scientific community and in promoting microbiology.   

Michael Ukwuru

Anti-racism working group member

Michael Ukwuru has a Ph.D in Food Microbiology from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. He is currently the Head, Department of Food Science and Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State, Nigeria. He has carried out a series of community development projects. He has published over 30 articles in journals and has presented 30+ papers in many conferences around the world. He is a member of the Editorial Board of 25+ journals and Editor-in-Chief of two journals.  He has reviewed over 200 manuscripts for different journals and research proposals for some funding organizations. He is also a member of the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Peer Review Development College. His research area is Food Microbiology, Food Fermentation, Food safety and quality management systems, and Bio-processing.

Blessing Mbaebie Oyedemi

Anti-racism working group member

Dr Blessing Mbaebie Oyedemi is a research fellow at Nottingham Trent University with research interest in natural product drug discovery for molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance research (AMR), both in academia and clinical research settings. As an SFAM member, her passion resonates as an advocate for sustainable antimicrobial interventions through research, strengthening education and promoting policy. 
She believes strongly in the values of SFAM and the opportunities provided to all levels of scientists, researchers, and all public walks of life to be a change agent trying to solve everyday challenges   and influence change through microbiology 
 

Emmanuel Adukwu

Committee Member

Emmanuel completed a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Northampton, investigating community acquired infections and identifying decontamination and control measures.  He is currently a Senior Lecturer and Department lead for Employability at UWE Bristol where he is involved in Biomedical Science and Public Health teaching and research at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is also a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA). His research is dedicated to studying the survival strategies in bacteria and fungi as well as antimicrobial resistance and infection control in diverse communities with particular interest in preventing and managing infectious diseases in Africa.  

Passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, Emmanuel has been recognised for his contributions with a National Diversity Award nomination in 2019 (UK), institutional awards and the Bristol BME Powerlist100 in 2018. He is passionate about global education and mentoring and has been a member of the Society for Applied Microbiology for over 10 years and previously served as Events Coordinator and Chair of the Early Career Scientist committee.  

Marcela Hernandez Garcia

Committee Member

Marcela completed her PhD in Natural Resources in 2010 in Chile. After completing her PhD, she received an award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to perform her postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, in Marburg, Germany. In 2015, she moved to the UK to become a NERC research fellow in Environmental Microbiology at the University of Southampton (UoS). Marcela is currently a a Senior Research Associate in the group of Colin Murrell at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. . Her career is dedicated to studying how microbial communities establish in soils perturbed either by human manipulation or natural disturbance, specifically methanogens in paddy rice soils, carbon monoxide oxidisers in volcanic soils, antimicrobial resistance in agricultural soils and the resilience of microbial communities in archived soils. She uses high-throughput sequencing and stable-isotope probing to assess community diversity and function. Marcela is editor of the Journal of Applied Microbiology and has been a member of the SfAM since 2017. Marcela is highly involved in outreach, receiving in 2017 the UoS “Research Communicator Road-show Award” for outstanding public engagement. Marcela is also a Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) visiting professor at the Institute of Soil Science CAS-Nanjing, China.

Diane Purchase

Policy Subcommittee Member

Diane is a Professor of Environmental Biotechnology and has a keen interest in safeguarding and improving the environment. She is an alumna of King’s College London where she was awarded a PhD degree in Environmental Microbiology in 1992. As an Executive Member of the Committee of the Heads of Environmental Sciences (CHES) in the UK, a Fellow of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), Diane engages in the advancement of environmental microbiology through teaching, knowledge exchange, research and scholarship in the UK and international higher education sectors. She was appointed to the Subject Benchmark Review panel for Earth Science, Environmental Sciences and Environmental Study by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) in 2014. Diane’s research interest focuses on the role of biotechnology in pollution control and bioremediation. She has published widely and has supervised a number of PhD students in this area. She is member of the editorial boards of the two international journals published by Springer Nature: Environmental Geochemistry and Health and Environmental Science and Pollution Research.