The existence of antimicrobial resistance in the environment predates human use of antibiotics.
We aim to understand if natural, non-antibiotic compounds, are able to select for resistance to conventional antibiotics in various environments. We are using a range of molecular and microbiology techniques to determine the selection at cellular and population scales. We are also interested in determining natural reservoirs of resistance to clinically important antibiotics and what drives this resistance into clinically important bacteria.
Current work in this space is funded by the Medical Research Foundation National PhD Training Programme in AMR