Microbiologist magazine
Microbiologist magazine is FREE to all
Published four times a year, in March, June, September and December, Microbiologist magazine provides detailed information on the latest research, topics, reviews, events and news on a wide variety of microbiological topics. The current issue can be read on the platform below. Alternatively you may download a PDF which can be found in the back issues dropdown box.
Microbiologist Editorial Group
Ayuen Lual
Clare Taylor
Elaine Cloutman-Green
Louise Hill-King
Marcela Hernandez Garcia
Nicola Stanley-Wall
Paul Sainsbury
Sarah Maddocks
Ayuen Lual
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.
Clare Taylor
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.
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Elaine Cloutman-Green
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.
Louise Hill-King
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
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.
Nicola Stanley-Wall
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).
Paul Sainsbury
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.
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Sarah Maddocks
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.