Microbiology Symposium

Hughes Hall

All are welcome to attend an evening focussed around Microbiology, sponsored by the Microbiology Society
With talks covering everything from historical parasites, deadly infections both home and abroad, and a keynote speech from Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott OBE, this event is aimed at showing microbiology in its widest sense, revealing the breadth and depth of the subject, together with its practical applications. 
Whether you are a researcher in the field, involved in other areas of the life sciences, or have just a passing interest, we hope you will come along and support this event.
<H2 CLASS="MsoNormal">Programme</H2>
17:30 Arrival tea/coffee 18:00 Welcome Dr Carole Sargent, Academic Convenor, Hughes Hall 18:05 Influenza at Addenbrooke's: A Tale of Three Winters Dr Ben Warne, Clinical Research Fellow, Dept of Medicine, University of Cambridge  18:25 Detecting Ancient Parasites to Understand Disease Transmission in the Past Marissa Ledger, PhD student, University of Cambridge/University of Alberta 18:45 Microbial Metagenomics in Global Health Research Dr Ellen Higginson, Research Associate, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge  19:05 Things I Wish I had known when I started my PhD in Microbiology at Warwick! Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, OBE, President of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) 19:25 Discussion Led by Dr Vanessa-Wong, Clinical lecturer, University of Cambridge 19:45 Buffet supper 20:30 Close
<H2 CLASS="MsoNormal">Posters</H2>
If you would like to bring along a poster, we would be happy for it to be displayed at the event. We have not had enough submissions to run a competition.  
<H2>Contributors</H2>
Dr Carole Sargent is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology with an interest in comparative mammalian genomics, specifically the sex chromosomes. Her current research is focussed on the genetic composition and adaptation of local pig breeds in Ghana. In addition, she is involved in the histopathology classroom teaching for second year Biology of Disease course, and is an option organiser and lecturer for Part II Pathology Cancer and Genetic Diseases. Dr Sargent has responsibility for the admission of the students on the Cambridge Graduate Medicine Course in Hughes Hall, and supports their progress along with her fellow Tutors and Director of Studies. She is also a Governing Body Fellow, and Deputy Senior Tutor (Admissions Lead).
Dr Ben Warne qualified from the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in 2010. He was awarded a National Institute for Health Research Academic Clinical Fellowship in 2012 and was subsequently appointed as a Specialty Registrar in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He is currently working as a Clinical Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at Cambridge, studying clinical isolates of outbreak strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae. His research is focused on the characterisation of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in these strains using a combination of genomics approaches and high-content bacterial imaging, under the supervision of Prof Gordon Dougan and Dr Estée Török. Ben is also collaborating with colleagues at Public Health England in a large clinical, epidemiological and genomic study of the nosocomial transmission of influenza in Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
Marissa Ledger is a PhD student in Biological Anthropology in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge supervised by Dr. Piers Mitchell. She is also a medical student at the University of Alberta. Her research is in the area of palaeoparasitology, more specifically her PhD research is focused on understanding the regional variations in intestinal parasitic infection in the Roman period and how this compares to earlier and later time periods in Europe. Most of her work has focused on archaeological sites located in Turkey, Italy, and the UK. She has also worked on parasitological analysis of samples from prehistoric communities, namely the early farming community of Çatalhöyük in Turkey and the Bronze Age settlement of Must Farm in the UK. She is also the supervisor of bioarchaeological analyses for excavations of the Roman cemetery at Vagnari located in Gravina in Puglia, a project directed Dr. Tracy Prowse from McMaster University in Canada. 
Dr Ellen Higginson joined the University of Cambridge Department of Medicine as a Research Associate in 2018. Her area of expertise is in molecular microbiology and global health, with a focus on gastrointestinal pathogens. Dr Higginson completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne, Australia, before moving to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), USA to work on bacterial vaccines. While at UMB she also worked on several global health projects, including stints in Kenya, Chile and Samoa. Dr Higginson moved to Cambridge to work on the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments project, a large interdisciplinary project looking at the impact of improved water sanitation on human and environmental health in informal settlements in Asia and the Pacific. This work is being done in collaboration with the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Monash University, Australia, where Dr Higginson also holds visiting scientist/adjunct research associate positions.
Dr Vanessa Wong is a Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, and Research Fellow at Hughes Hall. Her research interests include pathogen genomics, host-pathogen interactions, and antimicrobial resistance in infection. She undertook her medical degree at the University of Oxford and has trained in Nottingham, London and Cambridge. During training she was also awarded a PhD with Gordon Dougan at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge. Her research used whole genome sequencing to study a global population of Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi), the causative agent of typhoid fever.  She is also collaborating with colleagues in intensive care on a study looking at rapid diagnostics in the management of ventilator-associated pneumonia in Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Her work has been presented widely and she has received awards for her research including the Gold Research Award, Royal College of Pathologists, London and Young Investigator Award, Academy of Medical Sciences, as well as her public engagement activities (Furness Prize for Science Communication, Royal College of Pathologists, London).
Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, OBE graduated from Warwick University with a BSc and PhD, followed by an award of a Research Fellowship at Calgary University before her first academic position at Exeter University as Lecturer in Microbiology. She was awarded a Personal Chair in 1999 (the first woman to be so awarded in an experimental science at Exeter Uni), and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in the same year. She became the Dean of the Postgraduate Faculty, leading the PhD community at Exeter University, and then onto Swansea University as Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor.
Prof Lappin-Scott has run a research group in Microbial Ecology, including degradation of pesticides in soil environments and unravelling the complexities of biofilm formation and control. Prof Lappin-Scott has held the Presidency of the Microbiology Society (formerly the SGM), the International Society of Microbial Ecology (and co-founded the ISME Journal) and currently holds the Presidency of FEMS.
Robert Will is a PhD student in theDougan &amp; Mutreja groups, University of Cambridge Department of Medicine &amp; Hughes Hall. He is funded by the Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Programme, He is interested in translational research, focusing on infectious diseases, bacteria, evolution, genomics, and molecular ecology, as well as how communicating science impacts policy and public perception. He is currently undertaking Whole Genome Sequencing to study global molecular epidemiology and evolution of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Robert represents the Microbiology Society as part of the Champions initiative, and was elected to be the Communications Representative of the Early Career Microbiologist's Forum for 2020/21 by its members. He also sits on the Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Program committee as a PhD representative.

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