Summary
My fascination with the trillions of microbes that inhabit us combined with my paediatric background led me to join the Paediatric Microbiome Research Group. I was intrigued by the condition which primarily affects premature infants - necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). This disease has a high mortality rate and can leave survivors with devastating long term effects. Unfortunately, its aetiology is ill defined, and as result, treatment is largely supportive. I was awarded an NIHR doctoral research fellowship to undertake a study which aimed to characterise the developing faecal microbiota of preterm infants and its relation to NEC. We discovered two microbial signatures that anticipated the development of NEC and are currently exploring this in greater detail with metagenomic analysis.
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, Nature Microbiology, Vol:8, ISSN:2058-5276, Pages:1160-1175
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
Zenner C, Chalklen L, Adjei H, et al., 2023, Noninvasive Fecal Cytokine and Microbiota Profiles Predict Commencement of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in a Proof-of-Concept Study., Gastro Hep Adv, Vol:2, Pages:666-675
Shaw A, Sim K, Rose G, et al., 2021, Premature neonatal gut microbial community patterns supporting an epithelial TLR-mediated pathway for necrotizing enterocolitis, Bmc Microbiology, Vol:21, ISSN:1471-2180, Pages:1-11
Sim K, Mijakoski D, Stoleski S, et al., 2020, Outcomes for clinical trials of food allergy treatments, Annals of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, Vol:125, ISSN:1081-1206, Pages:535-542