Mrs Uzma Basit Khan
Research student, Infection & Immunity, School of Medicine
Overview
I am a PhD student at Cardiff University and currently doing intensive genomic interrogation of whole genome sequencing (WGS) and systematic phenotypic antimicrobial resistance profiling for all invasive and non-invasive Group B Streptococcus (S. agalactiae) causing infections in adults of UK, Brazil and Australia between 2014 and 2015. This will help to elucidate mechanism and more accurate assessment of antimicrobial resistance in adult GBS infections in these three regions. Further I am working parallel to identify any potential capsular switch in GBS strains due to recombination event(s) since capsular switch from vaccine to non-vaccine serotype may compromise the success of vaccination programs, hence, continued surveillance of GBS population remains of the utmost importance.
Research
Research interests
Since the first bacterial genome was sequenced in 1995, whole genome sequencing (WGS) has provided unprecedented insights into the genetics and evolution of microbial pathogens. Research of my PhD study is directed at following areas: developing rapid WGS to combat hospital-associated infections, the molecular basis of antibiotic resistance and virulence, and epidemiology and evolution of Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS). By sequencing the entire genome (chromosome and mobile genetic elements), WGS immediately provides information on pathogen detection and identification, epidemiological typing, and drug susceptibility, which is crucially important information in reducing the number of people who become ill from Streptococcus agalactiae, best known as a cause of postpartum infection and as the most common cause of neonatal sepsis.
Research Interest
My research interest include: the survival and evolution of disease causing organisms, and probing the link between a pathogen’s genotype and virulence using WGS , and also the application of genomics in clinical setting to combat hospital-associated infections.
Recent Collaboration
National Infection Service,
Public Health England, London, UK
Current Projects:
- Description of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in Streptococcus agalactiae causing bloodstream infections in adults in England and Wales, Brazil and Australia between 2014 and 2015.
- Molecular epidemiology of disease-causing GBS in adults in England and Wales, Brazil and Australia between 2014-2015.
Thesis
Burden of antibiotic resistance and molecular epidemiology of Group B Streptococcus agalactiae isolated from adults in England and Wales, Brazil and Australia between 2014 and 2015.
Publications
2023
- Snoek, L. et al. 2023. Meeting report: Towards better risk stratification, prevention and therapy of invasive GBS disease, ESPID research meeting May 2022. Vaccine 41(42), pp. 6137-6142. (10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.09.014)
- Khan, U. B., Portal, E. A. R., Sands, K., Lo, S., Chalker, V. J., Jauneikaite, E. and Spiller, O. B. 2023. Genomic analysis reveals new integrative conjugal elements and transposons in GBS conferring antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics 12(3), article number: 544. (10.3390/antibiotics12030544)
2022
- Khan, U. B. 2022. Detailed genomic and antimicrobial resistance comparison of UK Streptococcus agalactiae isolates from adults to those of diverse global origins. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
- Khan, U. B., Jauneikaite, E., Andrews, R., Chalker, V. J. and Spiller, O. B. 2022. Identifying large-scale recombination and capsular switching events in Streptococcus agalactiae strains causing disease in adults in the UK between 2014 and 2015. Microbial Genomics 8(3), article number: 783. (10.1099/mgen.0.000783)