Biography
Esther Picton-Barlow joined Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) as a Research Technician in 2022 after graduating from the University of Bath with a BSc (Hons) in Biology. During her degree and a placement year working at the UK Health Security Agency, she discovered an interest in working in microbiology and developed her knowledge and lab skills. At LSTM, Esther has furthered this experience by gaining competencies in many lab techniques and taking opportunities to present her work, attend training courses, and attend events such as the annual Microbiology Society conference. In addition to her role as Research Technician she is a member of the Lab Users’ Group, Technical Forum and Early Careers Researchers Network.
Research interests
At LSTM Esther has contributed research centred around antimicrobial resistance, surveillance, transmission, mechanisms, and the optimisation of laboratory methods to study these themes. Within the Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance Across Care Settings in Liverpool project, she has carried out surveillance of ESBL-producing enterobacteriaceae in healthcare settings for 18 months by sampling patients and their surrounding environment. These samples were sequenced and this data will be used to identify where transmission of these bacteria may be happening, as well as provide the genomic landscape of ESBL-E in Liverpool. Esther is also involved in the Defining E. coli Diversity in Complex Samples: Methods for Surveillance & Transmission project that aims to determine the most accurate and cost-effective method at scale to define intraspecies diversity of escherichia coli from complex samples. These methods are necessary to support One Health antimicrobial resistance surveillance and transmission modelling.
Esther’s previous experience at the UK Health Security Agency enabled her to contribute to the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by testing blood samples for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, generating national sero-prevalence data. She was also a member of the TB drug discovery and evaluation group and carried out a research project exploring the impact of carbon deprivation on antibiotic susceptibility in M. smegmatis.
Selected research publications
Machine learning-driven identification of serotype-independent pneumococcal vaccine candidates using samples from human infection challenge studies – Journal: Vaccine – Published: 7th March 2026
Participant perceptions and experiences of a novel community-based respiratory longitudinal sampling method in Liverpool, UK: A mixed methods feasibility study – Journal: PLoS ONE – Published: 9th November 2023
Assessing the use of minimally invasive self-sampling at home for long-term monitoring of the microbiota within UK families – Journal: Scientific Reports – Published: 24th October 2023
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection by saliva and nasopharyngeal sampling in frontline healthcare workers: An observational cohort study – Journal: PLoS ONE – Published: 27th January 2023
Influence of sex, season and environmental air quality on experimental human pneumococcal carriage acquisition: a retrospective cohort analysis – Journal: ERJ Open Research – Published: 11th April 2022
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