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    Dr Emily Stevens Belcher

    Dr Emily Stevens Belcher

    Title
    Lecturer in Microbiology and Immunology
    Location
    Huxley 105
    Contact me
    Email
    Email
    e.j.stevens@keele.ac.uk

    Biography

    My research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis and evolution. In particular, I am interested in the evolution of bacterial opportunistic pathogens, with a focus on understanding how these organisms transition from harmless commensals to harmful pathogens. I am also interested in the interactions between opportunistic pathogens and host microbiota, and in the role of microbiota components in protecting against the onset of infectious disease.

    I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Bath in 2015, before completing my PhD in Microbiology at the University of Bristol in 2019. I then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford until taking up a lectureship position at Keele in 2024.

    Research and scholarship

    Virulence is a key driver of a pathogen’s ability to cause disease. It encompasses various aspects of infection, including initial colonisation of a host, evasion of the immune system and invasion of tissues and organs. My research started with a focus on the genetic basis of virulence factor production, specifically toxins, in the opportunistic pathogens Staphylococcus aureus (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14110-8) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000784). Both are medically important pathogens, causing a range of diseases from mild skin and upper respiratory tract infections to life threatening septicaemia and pneumonia. Using functional genomics, I identified novel genes which contribute to toxin production in these species.

    Following this, I began studying the evolutionary dynamics of pathogen virulence, with a focus on how host microbiota might drive changes in virulence evolution. Using a C. elegans nematode worm model of invasive S. aureus infection, I have characterised how competitive interactions between S. aureus and a native host microbiota community affect pathogen virulence over evolutionary time.

    My current work focuses on the transition of opportunistic pathogens from asymptomatic colonisers of the human nasopharynx to invasive pathogens. I am particularly interested in characterising in more detail the interactions between these opportunists and host microbiota communities, to better understand the context in which the transition to pathogenesis takes place.

    Publications

    Supervision

    Co-supervisor for PhD student: Samuel Greenrod (University of Oxford) 2022-2024
    Co-supervisor for Masters student: Alexander Tchernev (University of Oxford) 2022-2023

    School of Life Sciences,
    Huxley Building,
    Keele University,
    Staffordshire,
    ST5 5BG
    Tel: +44 (0) 1782 734414