Neil Fairweather
Neil Fairweather is a collaborator in work-stream 2 “network for clinical infection diagnostics”. In particular he will be co-supervising Zoe Seager, one of the Centre’s PhD students with Dr Kathy Bamford the lead in the Imperial College Healthcare Trust diagnostic microbiology laboratory.
Contact
Email: n.fairweather@imperial.ac.uk
- Phone: 020 7594 5247
- Office: Office 1.43, Flowers Building, South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ - See personal webpage by clicking here
Professor Neil Fairweather
The project will investigate the expression of bacterial cell wall proteins, which have been shown to be distinct between key pathogenic strains of C. difficile, in clinical strains. Fundamental molecular microbiology research will use the most clinically relevant strains in order to yield novel diagnostic tools best suited to detect highly pathogenic strains or toxins. If successful may be used clinically in local Trust and regional laboratories. Any such diagnostic tools coming from the research will be used as case-studies of innovation adoption for work-stream 1 “embedding infection prevention within NHS organisational structures: innovation adoption and behaviour change”
Background
Neil Fairweather is a Professor of Microbiology. His research programme is centred on the molecular basis of infections caused by Clostridia. In particular Neil works with Clostridium difficile, which causes a range of gastrointestinal diseases in humans and animals, ranging from mild diarrhoea through to severe colitis. His work uses molecular, genetic and structural approaches to gain a more detailed understanding how this pathogen causes disease.
