I am interested in how microbial environments shape antimicrobial activity, biosynthetic potential and the emergence of resistance.
Each disc on the plate opens a section of the site.
A nutrient runs short, a competitor appears, a new substrate arrives. Microorganisms respond by changing their metabolism and switching on quiet pathways, and molecules appear that standard culture would never show.
I hold an MSc in Applied Biotechnology (Distinction) from the University of Westminster and work in NHS Clinical Blood Sciences. My MSc research tested whether chitin changes the antifungal activity of marine sediment-derived bacteria against Candida albicans. Chitin-supplemented cultures inhibited C. albicans; unsupplemented ones did not, under the conditions tested. That result left me with the question that drives my interests:
How much antimicrobial potential stays hidden because we have not found the conditions that reveal it?
With Dr Linda Percy, University of Westminster
Writing up the MSc finding that chitin supplementation is associated with antifungal activity against Candida albicans.
Comparative genomics asking whether non-ribosomal peptide clusters co-occur with resistance genes and mobile elements, and how often such co-occurrence is more than chance.
Barker H. et al., incl. Kadakkadan S. · SSRN Working Paper Series
Lopus M. et al., incl. Shafi S. · Biodiversity and Conservation (Springer)
Kadakkadan S. · University of Westminster, MSc Applied Biotechnology
I welcome conversations about environmental microbiology, microbial natural products, antimicrobial resistance, collaborations and doctoral opportunities. Based in London, UK.