Summary
The main research focus of the Brueggemann group is Streptococcus pneumoniae (the ‘pneumococcus’), a bacterium that is a major cause of diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis worldwide. Current research involves using high-throughput genotyping and whole genome sequencing techniques and unique collections of isolates to understand pneumococcal evolution, especially evolutionary changes related to antimicrobial and vaccine selective pressures. Molecular epidemiology and population biology provide the foundation for all aspects of the group’s research.
Our work has particular relevance to: i) understanding how antimicrobial resistance determinants evolve and spread; ii) long-term effectiveness of the existing pneumococcal conjugate vaccines; iii) the design of future vaccines; and iv) the development of novel antimicrobials.
Our work takes place at the University of Oxford: https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/team/angela-brueggemann
Publications
Journals
Quirk SJ, Haraldsson G, Hjálmarsdóttir MÁ, et al., 2019, Vaccination of Icelandic children with the 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine leads to a significant herd effect among adults in Iceland, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol:57, ISSN:0095-1137
van Tonder AJ, Bray JE, Jolley KA, et al., 2019, Genomic analyses of >3,100 nasopharyngeal pneumococci revealed significant differences between pneumococci recovered in four different geographical regions, Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol:10, ISSN:1664-302X
Javan RR, Ramos-Sevillano E, Akter A, et al., 2018, Prophages and satellite prophages are widespread among Streptococcus species and may play a role in pneumococcal pathogenesis
Quirk SJ, Haraldsson G, Erlendsdóttir H, et al., 2018, Effect of vaccination on pneumococci isolated from the nasopharynx of healthy children and the middle ear of children with otitis media in Iceland, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol:56, ISSN:0095-1137
Rezaei Javan R, van Tonder A, King J, et al., 2018, Genome sequencing reveals a large and diverse repertoire of antimicrobial peptides, Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol:9, ISSN:1664-302X