Doctoral Training Centre

Simone completed his BSc in Biology (2017) and MSc in Molecular Biology (2018) at Roma Tre University. He then did his Master’s project at the University of Nottingham with Professor Miguel Cámara (NBIC Co-Director) as the main supervisor. The main theme of his project was discovering anti-Quorum Sensing (QS) compounds active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and determining their ability to inhibit toxins production and biofilms formation.  

In 2019, he was awarded a studentship to join NBIC as a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. His project focuses on the use of anti-QS antibodies as a novel approach to treat and detect P. aeruginosa infections. During his project, he successfully identified high-sensitive antibodies capable of detecting these molecules in pwCF body fluid samples. Through an MRC IAA funded project, these antibodies have been incorporated into a lateral flow device as a first step to develop a home test to diagnose P. aeruginosa in pwCF. 

Iona graduated with a medical degree (BMBS) from the University of Nottingham in 2012. During her undergraduate studies she also completed an intercalated BMedSci in medical genetics. Since then, she has progressed through the clinical ranks of the NHS, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2017 and is currently a senior registrar specialising in microbiology and infectious diseases.

Iona is now taking time out of her clinical training to study for a PhD. The focus of her research is the characterisation and evaluation of anti-biofilm complexes produced by 5D Health Protection Group, particularly their effect on biofilms found in wounds. She hopes to keep a clinical focus to her research with plans to collaborate with NHS colleagues to test the complexes on “real life” patient samples once initial testing has been completed on laboratory models.

Having studied for a BSc in Medical Physiology and Therapeutics at the University of Nottingham, Elizabeth developed an interest in research pertaining to real-life healthcare applications.Now a first year PhD student at the University of Nottingham, Elizabeth is studying the initial interactions of oral bacteria with dental surfaces. 

The oral cavity contains a rich and diverse microbial community, mainly consisting of non-motile bacteria. With a view to better understanding oral plaque development and prevention strategies, she is using digital holographic microscopy to improve the visualisation and quantification of such events. Her work is funded by Haleon and will produce high resolution images of the interaction events at a single cell level, studying how they lead to biofilm development and how oral care products influence this. 

Liam Jones is a postgraduate research student in Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton and is a part of the South Coast Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (SoCoBio DTP). Liam has studied Biochemistry at undergraduate and Masters level at the University of Waikato, NZ and University of Manchester, UK respectively. Liam worked as a technical assistant at Qiagen and a scientist at Medtrade Products Ltd before returning to academia. At Medtrade Liam was particularly interest in the research and development of new technologies in advanced wound care to help manage biofilms.

Liam is striving to become a specialist in the area of biofilm research. His PhD focusses on the development of a model system to investigate the role of biofilm communities within microbiologically-influenced corrosion (MIC) and their control using industrial biocides. Commercially available biocides as well as novel antimicrobial compounds can then be introduced and investigated.

Erin completed both my BSc in Biomedical Science (Neuroscience) and MRes in Biosciences at Cardiff University. Her MRes research focused on utilising novel antimicrobials for the treatment of Clostridium difficile, the leading cause of infectious diarrhoea within hospitals worldwide.

Erin is now a PhD student at the University of Liverpool, within the School of Engineering. With the increasing global threat of antibiotic resistance, her project under the supervision of Dr Raechelle D’Sa, focuses on the use of nitric oxide based antimicrobial surfaces to prevent bacterial and viral adhesion. The project aims to develop new applications in treatment of common hospital acquired infections, as an alternative to antibiotics.

Valentina has completed an integrated master’s degree at the University of Liverpool. Throughout the course she has taken a wide variety of modules, most of them with applications in biology and physics, and she has completed two master’s projects: ‘Topological patterns formed by cells in growing epithelial tissue’ and ‘Acoustic Rayleigh-Bloch waves’.

Her PhD is looking at bacterial competition and colonization. Her research group will be looking into developing a mathematical model describing cell movement and competition in the early stages of biofilm formation. They will be looking at the chemotactic response of bacterial species to a single chemical. Their model is aiming to describe how different properties of the bacteria and the surface affect colonization.

Parvati is currently pursuing a PhD in a collaborative program between University of Nottingham and University of Tubingen, Germany. Parvati’s journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Mumbai, India followed by master’s in biotechnology at Symbiosis International University, India. Parvati’s  master’s thesis focused on how polyamines, which are vastly present in the human body, can help survive Streptococcus pyogenes from oxidative and acidic environments. 

Currently Parvati is working with how a biocide, Triclosan, induces antimicrobial tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus and the role of stringent response in this. Parvati is also interested in deciphering how this changes in planktonic vs a biofilm, for which using polyacrylamide nanosensor to detect pH and Oxygen. Parvati plans on decoding the pathway associated with stringent response and antimicrobial tolerance which will help us understand how to administer antibiotics to patients. 

Alice completed a Biology BSc and Biomedical Sciences Research MSc at the University of Bristol. During which she became interested in modelling diseases especially Cystic Fibrosis in-vitro.  

She is now in the first year of her PhD at the University of Nottingham exploring 3D printing as a way to develop models of cystic fibrosis infection for effective antimicrobial testing. The multi-disciplinary project working with both NBIC and the Dialling Up Performance for On Demand Manufacturing programme will explore 3D printable materials and their interactions with cystic fibrosis pathogens and cultured human cells.  

Abbie completed her BSc in Chemistry at The University of Warwick and her MSc in Chemistry at University of Liverpool, which was focused on the synthesis and application of hybrid silica nanoparticles. She is now a PhD student working within the Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces at University of Liverpool.

Her PhD project is in collaboration with NSG Pilkington’s and focusses on studying the structure-property relationships between novel antimicrobial glass coatings and bacteria. This involves modification of the coating formulation and application conditions, alongside extensive characterisation and microbial evaluation, to guide the development of more effective antimicrobial coatings on glass.

Yoshiki is a Postgraduate Research student working within the Molecular Biophotonics and Imaging Group, in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton. Having studied for an integrated Masters in Pure and Applied Mathematics, Yoshiki developed an interest in multi-disciplinary research in mathematical biology.

Yoshiki’s current research project focuses on the development of novel chemo-metric analysis techniques for clinical diagnosis of respiratory infections. His research forms part of a larger inter-disciplinary project with another NBIC Postgraduate Research student Grace McCurdy and is centred on machine learning spectral classification techniques of respiratory biofilms. Yoshiki’s project is supported by the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) and aims to develop a rapid, sensitive, and robust analysis tool and prototype diagnosis device for clinical translation.

Ellen completed her MSci in Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, focusing on Microbiology for her Master’s project. The main theme of her project was centred on how specific proteins could be produced using fungi to develop a standardised assay for screening of the inhibitory activities of novel Type 2 diabetes drugs.

Ellen is currently a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, working on a PhD funded by NBIC and Unilever. Her project focuses on gaining a mechanistic understanding of how specific anti-biofilm technologies affect fungal and polymicrobial biofilm formation by elucidating the mode of action on fungal species. To achieve this, she plans to investigate both fungi-specific targets and targets in fungi that are homologous to those already discovered in single spp bacteria.

Andrei has completed his BSc in Microbiology at the University of Liverpool. During his studies, Andrei developed a keen interest in antimicrobial resistance. Driven by an appreciation of scientific disciplines beyond biology, Andrei was drawn to explore the intersection of biology and chemistry and pursued a PhD in Chemistry to investigate the antimicrobial activity of different shapes of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles.

Andrei’s research focuses on exploring the potential of these nanoparticles to be applied as coatings to combat microbial growth and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Andrei is a highly dedicated researcher who is passionate about utilising scientific research to contribute to the betterment of society.

Alicia has completed both her BSc in Biology and MSc in Biotechnology at the University of Nottingham and continues to study there as a PhD student. After graduating from her BSc, she worked in industry at Azotic Technologies, where she was involved in researching and testing biofertilizers and developed a keen interest in microbial research.

Her master’s thesis was conducted at Freenome and involved investigating the replacement or removal of REACH list chemicals within the commercial protein purification process used in developing the EarlyCDT-Lung diagnostic test. Her PhD project is funded by Unilever and focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of action and resistance of microbes to anti-biofilm lactam technology provided by Unilever. This technology aims to replace the use of traditional biocides that present environmental and toxicological hazards.

Malek completed his BSc in Biomedical Science (2023) at Queen’s University Belfast. His final project focused on the characterisation of an O-antigen Ligase in an Achromobacter strain. For his placement year, Malek was part of the R&D team working on Toxicological microarrays and immunoassays in Randox. His time as a medical lab assistant in the food and water microbiology lab of the Belfast HSC Trust cemented his interest in Bacteriology and AMR.

Malek is currently doing his PhD at the university of Southampton, funded by NBIC and the Griffith’s Memorial Trust. The project focuses on the physiological role of redox activity in the modulation of ci-di-GMP activity and biofilm dispersal in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The goal is to characterise the role of redox in dispersal which may lead to more effective clearance of chronic infection in cystic fibrosis patients and improve efficacy of antibiotic treatment.

Alice received her MSci in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Surrey, focusing her research on V. cholerae metabolic profile and biofilm formation variations across recent pandemic strains. During her studies, she also worked an industrial placement year with CEFAS developing novel strategies to detect SARS-Cov-2 in environmental reservoirs, including the national wastewater surveillance programme.

Alice is now a PhD student in the Faculties of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, in association with the NBIC collaborative training partnership. Her research looks to develop a novel, non-antibiotic topical formulation to improve orthopaedic surgical site healing, which is commonly complicated by bacterial biofilm colonisation. Bacteria of focus includes the human commensals P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Her research will make use of lab-grown 3D skin models for wound healing and infection studies.