Discovery Research|People

• Key Achievements
• Publications
• Projects
• Research Groups

• Key Achievements

  • Ben completed training in medical microbiology and infectious diseases in 2004, and was awarded a PhD from Monash University in 2009. In 2014, Ben was appointed as Director of the MDU PHL and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Ben has been the recipient of numerous research awards including a commendation in the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Medical Research (2010), the American Society for Microbiology ICAAC Young Investigator Award (2011), the Australian Society for Microbiology Frank Fenner Award (2014) and the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases Frank Fenner Award (2015). Ben is currently Deputy Chair of the Public Health Laboratory Network Australia, President of the Australian Society for Antimicrobials (2016-2020), and an Executive Member of the Australian Group on Antibiotic Resistance.

  Publications
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  Projects

  • Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

    Staphylococci, in particular S. aureus, are major opportunistic pathogens in humans resulting in large numbers of community and healthcare-associated infections. Increasing antimicrobial resistance, especially to the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin, is making treatment more difficult. The emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) in Australia, and globally, has also resulted in significant drug-resistant staphylococcal infections in the community. Research in Ben’s group focusses on understanding the epidemiology, clinical impact and optimal therapeutic strategies for treating drug-resistant staphylococcal infections, as well as using bacterial genomics and infection models to understand how staphylococci are becoming more resistant to last-line antimicrobials, how they evolve and adapt in the hospital and community environments, and how they cause disease. Recent studies have identified potentially important links between antibiotic resistance in staphylococci and alterations in host-pathogen interactions, resulting from the adaptation of the organism during persistent human infection.

  • Enterococcus faecium

    Enterococcus faecium is emerging as a major cause of drug-resistant infections in hospitalised patients globally. Hospital-adapted clones of this bacterial species frequently colonise patients in the gastrointestinal tract after hospital admission, and have a propensity to become multi-drug resistant. Glycopeptide resistance resulting in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) is now a major public health issue globally. Working closely with the Stinear laboratory and the Austin Hospital Infectious Diseases Department, Ben’s group’s research efforts have focused on understanding the genomic characteristics of E. faecium, and then using this information to better understand how and why VRE colonisation and infection is continuing to increase in the hospital environment. These studies have uncovered the frequent de novo generation of VRE in the human intestine during hospital admission, a finding with significant implications for the infection control management of colonised patients.

  • Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens

    Antimicrobial resistance has been highlighted by the world health organisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control in the USA as one of the major public health threats of our time. Ben’s group, which is co-located with the state-wide public health and reference laboratory MDU PHL), uses epidemiology and bacterial genomics to understand the characteristics and spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in hospitals and the community. Recent examples include the investigation of an outbreak of CTX-M 15 producing multi-drug resistant ST131 E. coli, locally acquired azithromycin-resistant Shigella flexneri infections, KPC producing K. pneumoniae, and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

  • Australian Pathogen Genomics Program

    Professor Howden leads the Australian Pathogen Genomics Program (AusPathoGen), which is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund as part of the Genomics Health Futures Mission (GHFM) Flagships - Pathogen Genomics grant opportunity to address the rise in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Australia.

    Read more on the AusPathoGen website

  Research Groups

  • Howden Group

    Research from Professor Ben Howden’s group uses genomics, molecular biology, epidemiology and clinical studies to address a broad range of issues related to invasive bacterial diseases in humans, especially those caused by staphylococci, enterococci and other antimicrobial-resistant species. Additionally, working closely with scientists in the MDU PHL, they investigate the epidemiology, evolution and spread of bacterial pathogens of public health significance such as Neisseria gonorrhoea, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella and Salmonella spp., Legionella spp., and carbapenemase-producing gram-negative bacteria.

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    Lab Team

    

    • Professor Benjamin Howden

      Director Of Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) Public Health Laboratory
    • Associate Professor Norelle Sherry

      Deputy Director, Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory
    • Adrianna Turner

      Research Assistant
    • Alexandra-Maria Blejusca

      Research Assistant
    • Ashleigh Hayes

      Research Assistant
    • Dr Calum Walsh

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Celeste Donato

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Chris Connor

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Danielle Ingle

      NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
    • Diane Daniel

      AMR Research Scientist
    • Eddie Chan

      PhD student
    • Emily Sotheran

      PhD student
    • Dr George Taiaroa

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Glen Carter

      Senior Project Officer
    • Jake Soley

      PhD student
    • Dr Jean Lee

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Jessica Webb

      Research Fellow
    • Jia Qi Beh

      PhD student
    • Joseph Napier

      Masters student
    • Karolina Mercoulia

      PhD student
    • Katie Cronin

      PhD student
    • Lamali Sadeesh Kumar

      PhD student
    • Lejla Kartal

      PhD student
    • Dr Lisa Ioannidis

      Centre for Pathogen Genomics Coordinator
    • Dr Louise Judd

      CPG/DAMG Senior Genomics Scientist
    • Lucy Li

      Research Assistant
    • Maria Duarte Aguilera

      AMR Research Technical Assistant
    • Dr Marielle Babinear

      CPG / DAMG
    • Marwa Alhotali

      PhD student
    • Dr Michelle Wille

      Senior Research Fellow
    • Mona Taouk

      PhD student
    • Munazzah Maqbool

      PhD student
    • Neta Petersiel

      PhD student
    • Nick Lim

      PhD student
    • Dr Patiyan Andersson

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Paul Kinsella

      PhD student
    • Rachel Cass

      AMR Research Technical Assistant
    • Dr Romain Guerillot

      Research Fellow
    • Dr Ryan Wick

      Research Fellow
    • Samriddhi Thakur

      PhD student
    • Dr Sarah Baines

      Research Fellow
    • Sher Maine Tan

      PhD student
    • Dr Stefano Giulieri

      Clinician Researcher and Infectious Diseases Physician
    • Taylor Harshegyi

      CPG / DAMG
    • Thinley Dorji

      PhD student
    • Warasinee Mujchariyakul

      PhD student

Full University of Melbourne profile