A one-year postdoc position is currently available in my lab at the University of Exeter Cornwall Campus!
The dramatic increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective treatment of a wide range of infections and forms a global challenge to public health. To effectively combat AMR, it is crucial we understand the mechanisms by which it evolves. This project will test for the effects of antibiotic concentration and microbiome diversity on mechanisms of AMR evolution. Bacteria can acquire antibiotic resistance via point mutations but are also able to take up resistance genes from other strains and species. The latter process might occur at the same rate as mutation but the relative importance of these two fundamentally distinct genetic mechanisms in generating AMR is not known. The main project aim is to combine antibiotic selection with whole-genome re-sequencing in a bacterial pathogen to identify the prevalence of distinct genetic mechanisms (horizontal gene transfer versus point mutations) responsible for AMR. This project will provide fundamental data on bacterial genome evolution as well as provide a scientific basis for pollution management.
The project is supervised by Dr. Michiel Vos (UEMS), Prof. Will Gaze (UEMS), Prof. Angus Buckling (CLES) and Dr. Ben Temperton (CLES). Work will take place in state-of-the-art microbiology labs at the ESI building at the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus.
Please see here for the job advert. Feel free to contact me for any queries at m.vos@exeter.ac.uk.
coastalpathogens 