Principal speaker
Professor Mark Schembri
Other speakers
Dr Catherine Satzke
Menzies Health Institute Queensland Program Seminar Series
Infectious Diseases & Immunology
Infection & Immunity - Host Professor Glen Ulett
Professor Mark Schembri - Title: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli - diversity, antibiotic resistance and virulence
Abstract -
Many multidrug resistant (MDR) bacterial strains are now recognized as belonging to clones that originate in a specific locale, country or even globally. Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is one such recently emerged and globally disseminated MDR pandemic clone responsible for community and hospital acquired urinary tract and bloodstream infections. E. coli ST131 was identified in 2008 as a major clone linked to the spread of the CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-resistance. Since then, E. coli ST131 has also been strongly associated with fluoroquinolone resistance.
In this seminar, I will discuss our recent work on the molecular characterisation of E. coli ST131, including the use of genome sequencing to demonstrate its rapid and recent global dispersal, and the development of a high-throughput transposon mutagenesis system in combination with next generation sequencing to understand capsule regulation.
Biography -
Professor Mark Schembri is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. He is also Deputy Director of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre. His research is in the field of molecular microbiology and bacterial pathogenesis. His specialist interest is in the area of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), with a focus on the genetics, genomics and virulence of multidrug resistant UPEC clones, and the role of cell-surface factors in UPEC adhesion, aggregation, biofilm formation and colonisation of the urinary tract. Professor Schembri has published >190 papers, including seminal research discoveries on the role of UPEC adhesins in disease and the evolution of a recently emerged and globally disseminated multidrug resistant UPEC clone. His research papers have been cited >12,000 times.
Dr Catherine Satzke - Title: Pneumococcal vaccines in the Asia Pacific
Abstract -
The Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is the leading killer of children under 5 years of age worldwide, predominantly occurring in the developing world. Pneumococcal diseases include pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia and otitis media (ear infection). Most children carry pneumococci asymptomatically in their nose, which is a prerequisite for disease.
Our research examines the impact of vaccines on pneumococcal carriage, transmission and disease, spanning both laboratory and translational science. In this seminar I will present recent data from our vaccine impact studies in low and middle-income settings in the Asia Pacific.
Biography -
Dr Catherine Satzke is based at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne where she heads the pneumococcal microbiology laboratory. She recently co-chaired the International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases, attracting over 1100 delegates from 85 countries.
Catherine is a NHMRC Career Development Fellow, and was an inaugural veski "inspiring women' Fellow. Her research is supported by national and international funders (including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to examine the impact of pneumococcal vaccines in low-income settings to support global vaccination strategies.
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Seminar Flyer -
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Event categories
RSVP
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