Antibiotic resistance genes in Gram-negative bacteria.
Westmead - Westmead Institute for Medical Research
PHD
The flux of antibiotic resistance genes and their vehicles is the principal determinant of real-time evolution of resistance in the clinical microflora. We have developed an extensive collection which represents the entire microflora of Intensive Care patients and all their infecting pathogens and begun detailed genetic analyses on the mechanisms of resistance to major antibiotics. Potential areas for study within this project range from clinical research on the impact of antibiotics, through bacterial and plasmid population analyses, to the detailed genetics of antibiotic resistance and bacterial gene transfer systems. We have developed rapid diagnostic tools in our laboratory capable of identifying multiple antibiotic resistance genes in a single assay and will be starting to bring these into clinical trails in the next few years.
The laboratory has 5 PhD students, two research assistants, and one senior postdoctoral scientist at present, with a primary focus on antibiotic resistance and its genetics. Search PubMed on supervisors names for recent publications. Methods are primarily those of bacterial molecular genetics, with bioinformatics an important component.
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 25