Background: Optimising sampling frames for genomic surveillance of E. coli and Klebsiella may support interventions to mitigate bloodstream infections (BSIs), but approaches to estimating sample size ...

BioArt exhibition exploring microbiology opens at the John Radcliffe Hospital A new display of work by artist Anna Dumitriu is now on show at the John Radcliffe Hospital, bringing together art, microbiology and research into healthcare-associated infections. The exhibition draws on research from Modernising Medical Microbiology into hospital environments, bacteria and antimicrobial resistance. Through BioArt, Anna’s work explores the microbial world that usually remains unseen and encourages people to think differently about the relationship between microorganisms, healthcare and our surroundings.

Hospital sinks are essential for handwashing, but beneath the basin lies a complex microbial environment that may present challenges for infection prevention. During my internship at the University of Oxford, I had the opportunity to contribute to research investigating the microorganisms found in hospital sinks and their potential relevance to patient safety. I worked under the supervision of Dr Aoife Kearney on the SELECTION project, building on Professor Nicole Stoesser and her colleagues’ research into hospital sink environments and healthcare-associated infections.

Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Seque…

Infusoria 26 September – 6 November 2026Artlink Corridor Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford From hospital sinks to BioArt: our microbiology research inspires new exhibition Infusoria What does the microbial world of a hospital sink look like when viewed not only through the lens of microbiology, but through art? Research from Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) at the University of Oxford…

Rapid genomic characterization of mycobacterial infections is important for timely patient management, infection control, and public health surveillance. However, many diagnostic laboratories rely on ...

Bloodstream infections occur when bacteria (which are germs that can cause disease) enter the blood and grow there. These infections are usually treated with antibiotics. However, bacteria can become resistant, meaning the antibiotics no longer work, and this is called antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It is a major worldwide health problem and people with cancer are especially at risk because both cancer treatments and the cancer itself weaken their immune systems (bodies own protection system).

BashTheBug was originally a large international citizen science project that invited anyone to help us classify how well different samples of M. tuberculosis grew in the presence of a range of antibiotics. It ran from 2017 to 2021 and in that time 46,427 people took part and collectively they classified 4,746,420 images of M. tuberculosis growing on different concentrations of one of 13 antibiotics. 

Dancing, Germs, and the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance We had a fantastic time this weekend at ATOM Festival in Abingdon, bringing microbiology to life with our Bash the Bug public engagement activities. With plenty of sunshine and a steady stream of curious visitors, it was the perfect setting to spark conversations about one of the biggest challenges in global health: …

Background Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Sequencing cost and the challenges of high h...

Background Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Sequencing cost and the challenges of high h...

Background In rural sub-Saharan Africa (sSA), the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains high. As AMR continues to rise, there is a strong need for practical, implementable surveillance to m...

Annette von Delft and collaborators Nicole Stoesser, Lizbe Koekemoer, Ed Griffen, Paul Brennan, Frank von Delft, Phil Fowler, and Thomas Lanyon-Hoggat of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

The UNIQplus programmeThe UNIQplus programme is aimed at supporting talented undergraduates from under-represented groups, who would find continuing into postgraduate study a challenge for reasons

Metagenomic approaches to the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections promise more accurate and more rapid diagnosis. However, the high host DNA to bacterial DNA ratio is a challenge. Nanopore adapti...

Tuberculosis remains a global health problem. Making it easier and quicker to identify which antibiotics an infection is likely to be susceptible to will be a key part of the solution. Whilst whole-ge...

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AbstractObjectives. WGS has become a key tool for diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, but discrepancies between genotypic and phenotypic drug

Bash The Bug (@BashTheBug) / X

Last Thursday this work which we'd previously preprinted looking at looking at rifampicin-resistant subpopulations in clinical M. tuberculosis samples was published in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance. If...

AbstractObjectives. WGS has become a key tool for diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, but discrepancies between genotypic and phenotypic drug

This study found E. coli phylogenetic background shapes TEM-1 beta-lactamase expression and co-amoxiclav resistance. Phylogeny alone shifted isolates from susceptible to resistant, stressing a need for lineage-sensitive genotype-phenotype prediction.