Our staff

The Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham houses the largest group of microbiologists in the UK.

Established in late 2012, this cross-college venture has brought researchers together in the heart of campus. Currently, there are 50 independent principal investigators studying various aspects of bacteriology and eukaryotic microbiology. Members of the IMI are predominantly drawn from the School of Biosciences and from the College of Medical and Dental Sciences. Additional members include individuals from the Schools of ChemistryChemical Engineering and Mathematics with a research interest in bacteriology or eukaryotic microbiology.

Staff in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Manuel Banzhaf

Dr Manuel Banzhaf

Birmingham Fellow

School of Biosciences

Manuel works as a group leader in the Institute for Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham. His research explores the use of high-throughput approaches to phenotype pathogens. Those methods allow him to study a) the bacterial cell envelope, a cellular compartment harbouring many determinants and processes related to antimicrobial resistance; b) how differences in DNA ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45586
Email
m.banzhaf@bham.ac.uk

Professor Gurdyal Besra

Professor Gurdyal Besra

Bardrick Professor of Microbial Physiology and Chemistry

School of Biosciences

Professor Besra heads a world-leading multidisciplinary team investigating key aspects of the microbial physiology of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall and the potential role of iNKT/CD1d therapeutics. He has been awarded and successfully managed over 50 research grants valued at over £35 million from The Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 58125
Email
g.besra@bham.ac.uk

Dr Apoorva Bhatt

Dr Apoorva Bhatt

Associate Professor in Molecular Microbiology
Program Leader- MSc Microbiology and Infection

School of Biosciences

Apoorva Bhatt - Research in 60 seconds videoDr. Bhatt is a Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology in the School of Biosciences. A prestigious Fellowship- a Career Development Award from the Medical Research Council-enabled him to set up his research group at the University of Birmingham in 2006. Dr.Bhatt’s research interests include studying pathogenic mycobacteria and how they cause disease, with a particular focus on Mycobacterium ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45893
Email
a.bhatt@bham.ac.uk

Prof Jessica Blair

Prof Jessica Blair

Professor of Antimicrobial Resistance

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Prof Blair’s research is focused on understanding how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics with a particular interest in the role of efflux pumps. She is also looking at how we might be able to inhibit efflux pumps to combat antibiotic resistance.

 

Email
j.m.a.blair@bham.ac.uk

Dr Michelle Buckner

Dr Michelle Buckner

Lecturer in Antimicrobial Resistance

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Buckner is a Lecturer in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. Her team's research focuses on understanding plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance in clinically-relevant Gram-negative bacteria. Research in Dr Buckner’s group focuses primarily on:

  • Understanding how plasmids impact the host bacteria.
  • Understanding plasmid dynamics among populations.
  • Devising strategies to ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 8758
Email
m.buckner@bham.ac.uk

Professor Steve Busby

Professor Steve Busby

Professor of Biochemistry

School of Biosciences

Research in Steve Busby’s lab is concerned with understanding the molecular mechanisms that control gene expression in bacteria, with particular attention to studying the regulation of transcription initiation in Escherichia coli. Much of the recent work has focussed on the expression of virulence determinants in pathogenic strains.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5439
Email
s.j.w.busby@bham.ac.uk

Dr David Cleary

Dr David Cleary

Assistant Professor in Microbial Genomics

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr David Cleary is a microbiologist and microbial bioinformatician whose research interests relate to bacterial pathogens of the human airways. Topics include population genomic epidemiology and intra-host evolution, as well as the roles of these pathogens in acute or chronic respiratory diseases, and general function within the airway microbiome.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 2859
Email
d.w.cleary@bham.ac.uk

Professor Jeff Cole

Professor Jeff Cole

Emeritus Professor of Microbiology

School of Biosciences

Professor Cole is a microbial physiologist interested in how bacteria adapt to oxygen starvation or excess.  Recent work has focused on how enteric bacteria protect themselves against nitric oxide generated either by other bacteria, or as a protection mechanism of their mammalian hosts.  He currently collaborates with Dr. Amanda Rossiter on projects that include how bacteria survive the ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45440
Email
j.a.cole@bham.ac.uk

Dr Michael J Cox

Dr Michael J Cox

Assistant Professor Respiratory Microbiome

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Cox is a microbial ecologist who studies the bacteria that reside in the respiratory tract in the context of respiratory diseases. These can be chronic diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Cystic Fibrosis, or acute infections such as following a viral infection. He is interested in the function of the respiratory microbiota and how it interacts with the human ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4087
Email
m.j.cox@bham.ac.uk

Dr Lucy Crouch

Dr Lucy Crouch

Sir Henry Dale Fellow

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Lucy is a glycobiologist and studies how gut microbes and pathogens use human-derived glycans as a nutrient source. Current projects include 1) looking at how infant-associated bacteria use glycans in breast milk and 2) how common human bacterial pathogens use mucins.

Lucy is part of the team at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Email
l.i.crouch@bham.ac.uk

Professor Adam Cunningham

Professor Adam Cunningham

Professor of Functional Immunity
Co-Director of the BactiVac Network

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

Adam Cunningham is a researcher based in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences’ Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy. In addition he is part of the vaccinology and immunomodulation theme in the newly formed cross-College Institute of Microbiology and Infection.

Adam's research primarily focuses on the how immune responses develop to vaccines and infection and how they impact on ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4068
Email
a.f.cunningham@bham.ac.uk

Professor Tim Dafforn

Professor Tim Dafforn

Professor of Biotechnology
Knowledge Exchange lead for Biosciences

School of Biosciences

Professor Tim Dafforn has established himself as an expert in biophysical spectroscopy with a keen interest in synthetic biology. Professor Dafforn has developed a number of projects from inception through to commercial realization.

 

Telephone
07411283602
Email
t.r.dafforn@bham.ac.uk

Dr Rebecca A Drummond

Dr Rebecca A Drummond

Birmingham Fellow

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

Rebecca Drummond is a fungal immunologist researching mechanisms of immunity that protect us from fungal pathogens, such as Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans.

Her lab is particularly interested in how organ-specific immune responses develop by studying the behaviour of tissue-resident myeloid cells during infection and the microbial response to the environment within host tissues.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 3006
Email
r.drummond@bham.ac.uk

Dr Jack Ferguson

Dr Jack Ferguson

Assistant Professor in Infection Biology

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Ferguson is an Assistant Professor of Infection Biology within the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. He is a molecular virologist and works on host-virus interactions that influence infection outcome. This research predominantly focuses on viruses that cause cancer and how factors (both host and virus) regulate viral gene expression. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Ferguson ...

Email
j.ferguson@bham.ac.uk

Dr Eva Frickel

Dr Eva Frickel

Senior Wellcome Trust Fellow
Reader

School of Biosciences

The Frickel lab studies interferon gamma-driven human host responses to infection and inflammation. We specifically focus on pathways driven by host guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) and ubiquitin. The pathogens we are most interested in are Toxoplasma gondii and Salmonella typhimurium. Our lab has a strong interest in automated artificial-intelligence-driven image analysis

Email
e.frickel@bham.ac.uk

Professor Joan Geoghegan

Professor Joan Geoghegan

Professor in Microbiology and Infection

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Joan Geoghegan’s research focuses on defining bacterial factors underlying the success of Staphylococcus aureusas a human pathogen. She is interested in elucidating mechanisms used by the bacterium to interact with host proteins and cells and to resist clearance by the immune system and interference from other microbes. A major aim of this work is to identify new targets for the treatment ...

Email
j.geoghegan@bham.ac.uk

Professor David Grainger

Professor David Grainger

Professor of Molecular Microbiology

School of Biosciences

Professor Grainger is an expert in the field of bacterial chromosome biology. He relocated his laboratory to the University of Birmingham in March 2011 having previously established a successful research group at the University of Warwick. He is a life-long supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and attributes his capacity to cope with the frequent disappointments that befall a research ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5437
Email
d.grainger@bham.ac.uk

Professor Lindsay Hall

Professor Lindsay Hall

Chair of Microbiome Research

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Professor Lindsay Hall is Chair of Microbiome Research and a Wellcome Investigator. Leading a dynamic, multidisciplinary team, she is on a mission to unravel the mysteries of how host-associated microbial communities foster well-being. Her research is focused on the critical early stages of life, including pregnancy and infancy, where the colonisation of microbes like Bifidobacteriumcoincides ...

Email
l.hall.3@bham.ac.uk

Dr Richard D Horniblow (He/Him)

Dr Richard D Horniblow (He/Him)

Associate Professor in Gastrointestinal Biomedical Science

School of Biomedical Sciences

Richard is an early career researcher within the School of Biomedical Science in the Institute of Clinical Sciences. His research focusses on how different dietary components contribute to the development and progression of intestinal diseases and in particular how the intestinal microbiome is implicated. Previous work has focussed on dietary iron and how this key nutrient can modulate intestinal ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 1991
Email
r.horniblow@bham.ac.uk

Dr Damon Huber

Dr Damon Huber

Assistant Professor in Biochemistry

School of Biosciences

Damon Huber is interested in using a combination of biochemistry and molecular genetics to address complex biological problems in bacteria. The research in his lab is focused on the transport of proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane by the Sec machinery in bacteria, protein folding, and the connection between folding and transport. Damon is a Birmingham Fellow who joined the Institute of ...

Email
d.huber@bham.ac.uk

Professor Robert Jackson

Professor Robert Jackson

Chair in Tree Pathology
Head of School of Biosciences

School of Biosciences

Professor Rob Jackson is an expert in bacteria-plant interactions, making major contributions to the understanding of how pathogens cause disease and how pathogens evolve to evade host immunity. He also has interests in applied biology questions relating to biocontrol approaches to treat plant diseases.

Telephone
0121 414 5886
Email
r.w.jackson@bham.ac.uk

Dr Tim Knowles

Dr Tim Knowles

Reader in Structural Biology

School of Biosciences

Tim Knowles is a Reader in Structural Biology whose interest lies in utilising and developing structural and biophysical techniques to elucidate protein function. His research focus spans both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and includes diverse areas of study including resolving the mechanisms of outer membrane biogenesis in Gram-negative bacteria, the development of novel strategies for studying ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5393/+44 (0)121 414 44333
Email
t.j.knowles@bham.ac.uk

Professor Nick Loman

Professor Nick Loman

Professor of Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics

School of Biosciences

Nick works as Professor of Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics in the Institute for Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham. His research explores the use of cutting-edge genomics and metagenomics approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of infectious disease. Nick has so far used high-throughput sequencing to investigate outbreaks of important ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 4145 421
Email
n.j.loman@bham.ac.uk

Professor Andrew Lovering

Professor Andrew Lovering

Professor of Structural Biology

School of Biosciences

I am a Professor of Structural Biology here at Birmingham, and my research interests involve utilising structural biology (and complementary techniques) to investigate protein function – many of these projects involve the unusual predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio; see “Research” tab and be enthused!

Here is a link to a presentation given at an EMBO meeting that provides some ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45419
Email
a.lovering@bham.ac.uk

Prof Peter Lund

Prof Peter Lund

Emeritus Professor of Molecular Microbiology

School of Biosciences

Peter Lund is a molecular microbiologist with particular research interests in how bacteria respond to different stresses in their environment.  These are studied with a range of genetic and biochemical tools including high throughput methods.  He is currently retired from teaching and administration but runs an active research programme funded by BBSRC, the Leverhulme Trust, and the ...

Email
p.a.lund@bham.ac.uk

Professor James McDonald

Professor James McDonald

Professor of Microbial Ecology

School of Biosciences

Professor McDonald and his research team apply a combination of cultivation-based and molecular approaches to characterise and engineer both host-associated and environmental microbiomes, to understand their role in host health status, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. Current research focusses on microbiome engineering approaches to address key global challenges such as waste ...

Email
j.e.mcdonald@bham.ac.uk

Dr Megan McDonald

Dr Megan McDonald

Assistant Professor

School of Biosciences

Megan uses next-generation sequencing tools identify and characterise virulence genes from fungal pathogens of wheat and barley. To do this Megan has worked extensively with long-read de novo genome assembly, genome annotation and transposon annotation. Megan’s background is in population genetics of plant pathogens, studying their origins and global movement during her graduate studies. ...

Email
m.c.mcdonald@bham.ac.uk

Professor Alan McNally

Professor Alan McNally

Professor in Microbial Evolutionary Genomics
Director of Institute of Microbiology and Infection within the College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Alan McNally is a Professor in Microbial Genomics and works on the evolutionary genomics of pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens.  Alan has also been funded by the European Union, Medical Research Council and Royal Society.

Alan has a strong belief in the collaborative nature of genomics research with active collaborations in the UK, China, Germany, France, ...

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 415 8167 (PA)
Email
a.mcnally.1@bham.ac.uk

Dr Patrick Moynihan

Dr Patrick Moynihan

Senior Research Fellow/BBSRC David Phillips Fellow

School of Biosciences

Dr. Moynihan is a Senior Research Fellow and BBSRC David Phillips Fellow in the School of Biosciences. His group employs multi-disciplinary approach to study the pathogenic mycobacteria. He is primarily interested in the molecular rules that underpin complex interactions between bacteria and their host, with an emphasis on the modulation of cell wall structures.

Telephone
+44 (01)21 415 8123
Email
p.j.moynihan@bham.ac.uk

Dr Matt O'Shea

Dr Matt O'Shea

Associate Clinical Professor
Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology
Surgeon Commander, Royal Navy

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

Dr Matt O’Shea is a military clinical academic based in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences’ Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy. He divides his time between providing clinical care and leading a programme of infection research. He is interested in a wide range of clinically important infections, their diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, and in particular the ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4068
Email
m.k.oshea@bham.ac.uk

Dr Tim Overton

Reader in Microbial Biotechnology

School of Chemical Engineering

Dr Tim Overton is a biochemist and molecular microbiologist who is interested in applying molecular biology and single-cell techniques to understand and develop bioprocesses. He is active in microbial flow cytometry research and collaborates widely with bioprocess engineers, molecular microbiologists, cell biologists and environmental microbiologists to develop new methods of answering ...

Telephone
(+44) (0) 121 414 5306
Email
t.w.overton@bham.ac.uk

Dr Joshua Quick

Dr Joshua Quick

UKRI Future Leaders Fellow

School of Biosciences

Josh is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Birmingham developing novel methods for rapid antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prediction. He is a molecular biologist specialising in next-generation sequencing and has worked on both bacterial genomics and viral surveillance of outbreaks. He travelled to Guinea in West Africa and established the first mobile laboratory to perform viral ...

Telephone
0121 414 3981
Email
j.quick@bham.ac.uk

Professor Jonathan Ross

Professor Jonathan Ross

Professor of Sexual Health and HIV

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Jonathan Ross is Professor of Sexual Health and HIV and a Consultant Physician at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

His research interests relate to gonorrhoea, Mycoplasma genitalium, HIV, bacterial vaginosis and sexual health care service delivery.

Telephone
+44 (0)121 237 5721
Email
j.d.ross@bham.ac.uk

Dr Amanda Eve Rossiter

Dr Amanda Eve Rossiter

Lecturer in Prokaryotic Infection Biology

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Rossiter's research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis, with a particular interest in Salmonella spp. and Helicobacter pylori infections. Dr Rossiter is investigating how H. pylori-mediated modulation of the hosts immune system and gastrointestinal microbiome can lead to the development of gastric cancer or, on the contrary, protect against auto-immune disorders, such as Inflammatory Bowel ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 4146562
Email
a.e.rossiter@bham.ac.uk

Professor Chris Thomas

Professor Chris Thomas

Professor of Molecular Genetics

School of Biosciences

Chris Thomas - Research in 60 seconds videoProfessor Thomas joined the University of Birmingham in 1980 as a Lecturer in the Department of Genetics and has been Professor of Molecular Genetics since 1991. He is an internationally recognised authority on bacterial plasmid and mobile DNA and within the university has championed Biotechnology. He was also a founder of the successful Medici Programme that encourages development of ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 41 45903
Email
c.m.thomas@bham.ac.uk

Dr Hung-Ji Tsai

Dr Hung-Ji Tsai

Assistant Professor

School of Biosciences

Dr Hung-Ji Tsai is interested in how aneuploidy, an unbalanced genomic state with gain or loss of chromosomes, enables rapid adaptation to diverse environment. His research focus is to understand the distinct cellular processes driven by aneuploidy (and other large-scale genome instability) during the acquisition of antifungal drug resistance.

Email
h.tsai@bham.ac.uk

Professor Willem van Schaik

Professor Willem van Schaik

Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection
Professor of Microbiology and Infection

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Willem van Schaik is Professor of Microbiology and Infection in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection (IMI) and is Director of IMI.

He has published more than 80 papers in the field of molecular microbiology, the human microbiome and antibiotic resistance. He has received major grants from BBSRC, the European Commission , the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 6913
Email
w.vanschaik@bham.ac.uk

Dr Nicole Wheeler

Dr Nicole Wheeler

School of Computer Science
Birmingham Fellow
Turing Fellow

Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Dr Wheeler’s work focuses on the development of computational screening tools for identifying DNA from emerging biological threats, establishing genomic pathogen surveillance in resource-limited settings, One Health surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, and the ethical development of artificial intelligence (AI) for health applications.

Email
n.wheeler@bham.ac.uk

Professor David Withers

Professor David Withers

Professor of Immune Regulation

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

David Withers is a Wellcome Trust funded Senior Research Fellow

Research in the Withers Lab is focused on understanding how memory CD4 T cell responses are generated and maintained, in particular the key cellular interactions that provide critical signals in this process. We are currently testing the role of RORgt-expressing group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells versus other immune cell populations as ...

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 8516
Email
d.withers@bham.ac.uk