I specialise in bacterial pathogenomics: using whole-genome sequencing to investigate transmission, pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Recent work from my group includes genomic investigations of hospital outbreaks and a phylogenomic analysis of the multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 superbug.
I was developed my career in bacterial genomics in the United Kingdom with fellowships from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (University of Oxford) and the UK Medical Research Council (University of Birmingham). Since returning to Australia I have held fellowships from both the NHMRC and ARC and have led a successful research group in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at UQ since 2008. I am a member of the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics and the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre. In 2016 I received the Frank Fenner Award from the Australian Society for Microbiology in recognition of my contribution to microbiology research in Australia.