Principal speaker
Associate Professor David Whiley
Other speakers
Dr Timothy Kidd
Understanding Chronic Conditions Topic 12: Infection and Immunity
Biographies
Assoc Prof David Whiley is a principal research fellow at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland and is also employed as a research scientist at Pathology Queensland. Much of his work is aimed at enhancing the capacity of clinical laboratories to diagnose, identify and characterise pathogens, with a particular research emphasis on sexually transmitted infections and antimicrobial resistance. In recent years A/Prof Whiley has been leading the NHMRC-funded Gonorrhoea Resistance Assessment via Nucleic Acid Detection (GRAND) studies, which aim to improve gonorrhoea antimicrobial resistance surveillance and associated treatment strategies.
Dr Timothy Kidd received his undergraduate qualifications in clinical laboratory techniques, microbiology and biotechnology from Queensland University of Technology. He worked as a microbiologist for 15 years and during this period developed a keen interest in respiratory microbiology and research. In 2007 Tim commenced fulltime clinical and epidemiological research of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other cystic fibrosis pathogens at the Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute and in 2012 was awarded his PhD. In 2014 he was awarded an ERS-EU RESPIRE2 Marie Curie Fellowship and moved to Queen's University Belfast to undertake research into Klebsiella pneumoniae infection biology. In 2016 Tim commenced his current NHMRC Early Career Fellowship at The University of Queensland and his research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria cause disease and develop antimicrobial resistance. Recent work has shown that polymyxin resistance in K. pneumoniae is conferred by various outer membrane lipid A modifications that also promote virulence and circumvent innate immune host recognition.
Abstracts
Assoc Prof David Whiley: Silencing the clap: enhancing detection and characterisation of an emerging superbug
The gonococcus has presented some considerable challenges in recent times. Notably, rates of gonorrhoea have continued to increase, almost doubling in Australia in the last five years, and antimicrobial resistant gonococcal strains continue to emerge and threaten current treatments. The current evidence suggests we are fast losing control of this emerging superbug, and highlights the need for renewed efforts to ensure individuals at risk of gonococcal infection are tested, accurately diagnosed and appropriately treated. This talk will discuss key issues associated with diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhoea, and will focus on outcomes from the NHMRC-funded Gonorrhoea Resistance Assessment via Nucleic Acid Detection (GRAND) studies.
Dr Timothy Kidd: Klebsiella pneumoniae and colistin – a nasty cocktail promoting dire consequences
Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important cause of multidrug-resistant infections worldwide. Recent studies highlight the emergence of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae strains which show resistance to colistin, a last-line polymyxin antibiotic that is increasingly being used in the critical care setting. However, the precise molecular resistance mechanisms and their impact on bacterial virulence remain unclear. In this study we reveal that mutation of a small regulatory gene induces extensive remodelling of the K. pneumoniae outer membrane. These changes confer not only high level resistance to polymyxin antibiotics, but also enhances this organism's capacity to cause infection by decreasing antimicrobial peptide susceptibility and attenuating early host defence response activation. Overall, our findings have important implications for patient management and antimicrobial stewardship, while also stressing antibiotic resistance development is not inexorably linked with subdued bacterial fitness and virulence.
Please RSVP here. This is for catering purposes and for MenziesHIQ to stay in touch with you to advise of any potential changes, should they occur
Event categories
RSVP
RSVP on or before Tuesday 8 August 2017 , by email uccmenzieshiq@griffith.edu.au , or by phone 07 56780907