Project: Defining the impact of recurrent natural Staphylococcus aureus mutations on virulence and anti-microbial resistance
Howden Group
Staphylococcus aureus is armed with an array of virulence factors and causes a wide range of infections for which treatments are hampered by escalating multi-drug resistance. Although integral to the human microbiome, with one-third of the human population asymptomatically colonised, SA is also the deadliest bacterial pathogen. Using large-scale genomics analyses, we have identified mutations that recurrently arise in clinical isolates of S. aureus. This project will investigate the impact of key mutations that are predicted to increase the resistance of S. aureus to last-line antimicrobials and enhance its virulence. The project will involve genetic manipulation of S. aureus, assessment of antimicrobial resistance, and the use of in vitro and ex vivo models of infection.
Contact project supervisor for further
information and application enquiries
Howden Group
2 vacancies
The Howden lab has a strong interest in understanding the various facets of antimcirobial resistance (AMR), spanning discovery research in AMR mechanisms and evolution through to translational projects to imporve AMR detection and surveillance, and treatment of resistant infections.
Howden Group Current Projects
-
Assessing the suitability of lateral flow devices for highly pathogenic avian influenza surveillance
Honours
-
Exploring the genomic landscape of Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic adaptation
Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Understanding Staphylococcus aureus adaptation to intracellular lifestyle
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Defining the impact of recurrent natural Staphylococcus aureus mutations on virulence and anti-microbial resistance
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Investigating novel strategies to study drug synergy/antagonism in combination therapy for key bacterial pathogens
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Exploring resistance to old antibiotics in multi-drug resistance gram-negative bacteria using functional genomics
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Expanding the diversity of animal astroviruses through transcriptome mining
Honours
-
Ecology and diversity of Avian orthoavulavirus 1, the causative agent of Newcastle Disease virus, in Australian wild birds
Honours
Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.