Summary
Alex is a Research Associate whose work focuses on the detection of enteroviruses from stool and environmental samples. He works within the Vaccine Epidemiology Research Group (VERG) in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. The primary goal of his work is the detection and typing of poliovirus through next generation sequencing, with the aim of providing rapid and accurate information that could be used by the Global Poliovirus Eradication Initiative in the formation of response strategies.
His previous work has focused on the microbiota of infants, studying the correlation between the development of the gut microbiota and cases of necrotising enterocolitis and late-onset sepsis. This work was conducted as part of the Neonatal Microbiota study (NeoM), an ecological study of the microbiota of premature infants, which was supported by the Winnicott Foundation and Meningitis UK.
Alex completed his PhD at the University of Manchester where he applied Systems Biology approaches to the study of DNA replication in human cell lines. He also obtained a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Bioinformatics from Imperial College.
Publications
Journals
Kiu R, Shaw AG, Sim K, et al., 2023, Particular genomic and virulence traits associated with preterm infant-derived toxigenic Clostridium perfringens strains., Nat Microbiol
Akello J, Bujaki E, Shaw A, et al., 2023, Comparison of eleven RNA extraction methods for poliovirus direct molecular detection in stool samples, Microbiology Spectrum, Vol:11, ISSN:2165-0497, Pages:1-13
Zenner C, Chalklen L, Adjei H, et al., 2023, Non-invasive faecal cytokine and microbiome profiles predict commencement of necrotizing enterocolitis in a proof-of-concept study, Gastro Hep Advances, ISSN:2772-5723
Sim K, Powell E, Emma C, et al., 2023, Development of the gut microbiota during early life in premature and term infants, Gut Pathogens, Vol:15, ISSN:1757-4749
Karampatsas K, Faal A, Jaiteh M, et al., 2022, Gastrointestinal, vaginal, nasopharyngeal, and breast milk microbiota profiles and breast milk metabolomic changes in Gambian infants over the first two months of lactation: a prospective cohort study, Medicine, Vol:101, ISSN:0025-7974, Pages:1-10