Zoe Seager

Zoe Seager is a PhD student with the Centre for Infection Prevention and Management.  Her project, under the supervision of Kathy Bamford and Neil Fairweather is entitled “Heterogeneity of cell wall proteins in epidemic strains of C. difficile – development of novel approaches to diagnosis”. Its aim is to investigate the protein expression of the bacterial cell wall in clinical strains.  Proteomic information from the Centre’s current research has identified proteins that are distinct between key pathogenic strains of C. difficile, namely “hypervirulent” 027 and “standard” 001 ribotypes.

Zoe will be carrying out fundamental molecular microbiology research in these most clinically relevant strains in order to yield novel diagnostic tools best suited to detect highly pathogenic strains or toxins.  These antibody-based technologies if successful, will then be further developed to create a more clinically useful test prior to further evaluation in local Trust and regional laboratories.

Background

 Zoe grew up in Melbourne, Australia and came to the UK to study for her A levels. She completed an undergraduate degree in Biology at Imperial College London this year.