Jess Thompson is a microbiologist and editor at Nature Microbiology, with a research background in host-microbe interactions. She investigated how Salmonella virulence factors affect intramacrophage survival and replication of this bacterium during her PhD in Cellular Microbiology with David Holden at Imperial College London. She then moved to the Institute Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Portugal. As a postdoc, she first researched intra- and inter-bacterial signalling during E. coli gut colonisation and upon interaction with the gut microbiome with Karina Xavier. Then she moved to Miguel Soares’s research team to investigate mechanisms of disease tolerance, resistance and metabolic adaptation to bacterial infections including sepsis. In August 2022, Jess joined the team at Nature Microbiology as a locum editor. She is now a permanent member of the team and became a senior editor in January 2025. She handles manuscripts in the areas of bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial physiology, microbes and cancer, plus some clinical and epidemiological research.
In her talk, Jess will discuss her career path, give a behind the scenes look at what publishing with Nature Microbiology involves, and will finish up talking about what life as an editor is like, and what it can lead to, for anyone interested in editorial careers.