Summary
Dr Elita Jauneikaite's research focuses on evolution, transmission and antimicrobial resistance of vaccine preventable and healthcare associated bacterial infections. As her major research programme, Elita is investigating the disease-causing Group B Streptococcus (GBS), where she is using whole genome sequencing, bioinformatic analyses and molecular biology techniques to inform on evolution, mother-to-baby transmission and antimicrobial resistance patterns of this pathogen. Elita also leads genomics work investigating outbreaks and pathogenicity of other bacterial pathogens including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, S. argenteus, S. pyogenes, S. pneumoniae and C. difficile.
Elita is an Imperial College Research Fellow in Bacterial Genomics and Epidemiology at the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research Lead for Priority Pathogens theme in the National Institute of Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance. The HPRU is a partnership between Imperial College London, Public Health England, Cambridge University, Warwick University and Imperial College Health Partners. The Unit was funded, along with 14 others in priority areas from immunisation to radiation hazards, to bring Universities to work in partnership with Public Health England to support excellent health protection research relevant to the needs of Public Health England. It commenced 01 April 2020 for a 5 year period and builds on the legacy of the previous HPRU which ran from 01 April 2014 -31 March 2020.
Elita completed her PhD in 2014 investigating the prevalence of serotypes and genotypes of disease-causing Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in Singapore over the last 15 years. Elita used 1760 pneumococcal whole genome sequences to investigate the structure of this pneumococcal population in relation to the epidemiological data available and pneumococcal vaccine implementation in Singapore. This was achieved with a collaboration between four major hospitals in Singapore, Genome Institute of Singapore and University of Southampton.
Publications
Journals
Snoek L, Karampatsas K, Bijlsma MW, et al., 2023, Meeting report: Towards better risk stratification, prevention and therapy of invasive GBS disease, ESPID research meeting May 2022., Vaccine, Vol:41, Pages:6137-6142
Wan Y, Ganner M, Mumin Z, et al., 2023, Whole-genome sequencing reveals widespread presence of Staphylococcus capitis NRCS-A clone in neonatal units across the United Kingdom, Journal of Infection, Vol:87, ISSN:0163-4453, Pages:210-219
Wan Y, Sabnis A, Mumin Z, et al., 2023, IS1-related large-scale deletion of chromosomal regions harbouring the oxygen-insensitive nitroreductase gene nfsB causes nitrofurantoin heteroresistance in Escherichia coli, Microbial Genomics, Vol:9, ISSN:2057-5858, Pages:1-11
Boonyasiri A, Brinkac LM, Jauneikaite E, et al., 2023, Characteristics and genomic epidemiology of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales from farmers, swine, and hospitalized patients in Thailand, 2014-2017, Bmc Infectious Diseases, Vol:23, ISSN:1471-2334, Pages:1-14
Yip AYG, King OG, Omelchenko O, et al., 2023, Antibiotics promote intestinal growth of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae by enriching nutrients and depleting microbial metabolites, Nature Communications, Vol:14, ISSN:2041-1723, Pages:1-20