Medical microbiology
Medical microbiology research within the Microbiology and Biotechnology Research Group includes studies on Clostridium difficile infection and Tuberculosis.
Clostridium difficile infection
The main topic of research is in the area of Clostridium difficile infection and specifically the study of this pathogenic organism in vitro with regard to its pathogenesis.
Led by Dr Simon Baines, the research areas with this pathogen include:
- Susceptibility testing and resistance development evaluations for novel antimicrobial agents
- In vitro assays to assess antimicrobial activity of antibiotics and disinfectants against spores
- Evaluation of novel therapeutics and their effect on the microbial ecology of the gut and C. difficile using complex in vitro models of the human colon
- Studies of C. difficile epidemiology (human and animal/veterinary) in the UK
Dr Baines’s research also covers other pathogenic bacteria in vitro such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Research with these organisms has centred around:
- determining antimicrobial activity (MIC, MBC, kill curves)
- bacteriophage isolation, purification and efficacy testing
- biofilm studies
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the leading cause of death in the world. It has been estimated to infect one in every three people or nearly two billion individuals and kill almost three million people worldwide each year.
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has further contributed to the rising incidence of TB. Mycobacterium bovis has been recognised as the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis for over a century.
This zoonotic disease is a major cause of human infections in some countries, but now it is not generally regarded as significant public health risk in developed countries. However, it is still a major economic problem for agricultural trade and industry and the prevalence of M. bovis infection is increasing rapidly in some countries, including the UK and Ireland.
To control the spread of the disease it is very important to understand the epidemiology of the disease. This research group, led by Dr Madhu Goyal, is looking to identify different strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using different molecular biology techniques and different epidemiological markers.
For the control of tuberculosis, M. bovis BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) has been used since 1900s, however an increasing number of trials have shown variable results on its efficacy against tuberculosis.
The Group’s interest is to find out, in collaboration, with VLA the efficacy of improved BCG and study its effect on pathogenesis of tuberculosis by studying the expression of different cytokines.