Gotta catch ‘em all: tracking transmission with genome sequencing

Fri 11 November 2022

Wolfson College

With rising resistance to antibiotics, bacterial infections are becoming harder and harder to treat. Hospital environments, which hold large vulnerable populations and strong selective pressures, create ample opportunities for the transmission of drug-resistant bacteria among patients.

Over the last decade, there has been extensive work looking at how we can utilise genome sequencing to track, understand and interrupt transmission within the hospital. This talk will discuss the use of genomics in the hospital (including during the COVID-19 pandemic) and what future directions exist for integration of sequencing into routine infection control.


Speaker:
Dr Leah Roberts completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in Australia. She is currently an EBPOD postdoctoral fellow with EMBL-EBI and the University of Cambridge. Her research program has mainly focused on the genomic analysis of bacterial outbreaks in hospitals, and how rapid whole genome sequencing can be used for transmission intervention. She also has a strong interest in antimicrobial resistance and mobile genetic elements.


Details:
This is a hybrid event, which will take place in-person in the Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre) and also on Zoom.
If you would like to attend online, please register for the Zoom link.
For the in-person audience, drinks and snacks will be available after the talk.

Cost: Free