I joined the Division of Microbiology and Infection within Warwick Medical School in May 2013 as a Senior Research Fellow in Microbial Bioinformatics. My previous research has focused on phage host interactions in the marine environment. Having been involved in the isolation, genome sequencing and annotation of a number of phage capable of infecting cyanobacteria. Much of my research had focused on using the model system of S-PM2 and Synechococcus sp WH7803 to understand how cyanophage interact with their host. I identified the first 'photosynthetic genes' in a cyanophage genome, and more recently identified an antisense RNA that may have role in the regulation of these genes. My future research will shift focus to bacterial pathogens, broadly to understand the role phage have in pathogenicity. I currently collaborating with Dr Martha Clokie (University of Leicester) on bioinformatic analysis of several novel Clostridium difficile isolates and their prophages.

I completed my PhD at the University of Warwick in 2003 under the supervision of Prof Nick Mann on the molecular characterisation of marine cyanophages.I continued my interest in bacteriophages, working for Professors Nick Mann and Dave Scanlan on projects utilising microarrays to study the gene expression of both cyanophages and their hosts. The use of comparative genomic hybridisations combined with bioinformatic analysis to determine the core genes within cyanophages. I continue to be involved in the sequencing and annotation of a number of bacteriophages. More recently I have investigated how genomic islands within Synechococcus strains give rise to very different responses to nutrient limitation.