Profile – Barium Zone

Education:

St Maur’s 1989-1993, Sir William Perkins’ 1993-95, RHUL 1995-98, KCL 2000-2002, University of Leicester 2003-2007
Qualifications:

PhD, MSc & BSc
Work History:

The Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Brewing Research International, St George’s Medical School, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The University of Nottingham and The School of Pharmacy, University of London
Current Job:

Senior Lecturer in Molecular Bioscience

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I spend my time looking at what makes bacteria bad. I work on 2 bugs currently Campylobacter jejuni which can cause poorly tummies from undercooked food and Clostridium difficile which can cause make people who are in hospital very ill. Nobody really knows why these bacteria cause so much illness. I make mutant bacteria to see if it makes them less likely to cause disease.

Fluffy bugs (over a million times actual size)!!:

At the bench:
My Typical Day:

I spend time teaching in the lab & lectures but I squeeze as much lab work in as possible
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I have 3 different jobs really. Some of my day is spent teaching undergraduates, this might be in our teaching lab or in a lecture that theatre. I spend a lot of time in my office doing administrative duties such as looking at attendance and collating information from students. I try to plan my day so that I can do some lab work which usually involves plating bacteria and looking at DNA .

My untidy desk
What I'd do with the prize money:

Use it for outreach activities looking a hygiene, infection control and antibiotic resistance.

Gemma Marsden