Dr Elizabeth Cross

Biography

Lizzie is a clinical academic in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology whose research develops and evaluates interventions to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cellulitis and other common infections, ranging from novel diagnostic technologies to antibiotic optimisation and non-antibiotic preventive strategies.

She enjoys clinically facing research and first became involved in clinical trials during her NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship. She subsequently secured an NIHR Doctoral Fellowship and now continues as an Academic Clinical Lecturer.

Alongside her specialist infection training, she has formal training in Public Health, including Health Protection, and holds a Master’s in Public Health. She has a strong grounding in evidence synthesis, epidemiology, quantitative analysis, and risk prediction modelling.

Selected publications

Llewelyn MJ, Budgell EP, Laskawiec-Szkonter M, Cross ELA, et al. Antibiotic review kit for hospitals (ARK-Hospital): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2022, 23(2):207-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00508-4

Cross E, Quan T, Hayward G, Walker A, Llewelyn M. Development and validation of the Baseline Recurrence Risk in Cellulitis (BRRISC) score. J Infect. 2024;88(2):103-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2023.12.007.

Cross ELA, Jordan H, Godfrey R, Onakpoya IJ, Shears A, Fidler K, Peto TEA, Walker AS, Llewelyn MJ. Decision making on the route and duration of antibiotic therapy in acute cellulitis: a systematic review and meta-analyses considering the effectiveness and harms of antibiotic treatment. Journal of Infection 2020; 81(4):521-531.

Cross ELA, Hayward GN, Llewelyn MJ, Walker AS. External validation of the Baseline Recurrence Risk in Cellulitis (BRRISC) score and the added impact of acute clinical response: a prospective cohort study. BMC infectious diseases 2025 Dec 29; 25(1):1761. doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-12189-3

Cross ELA, Llewelyn MJ, Walker S, Hayward G. Comparing thermal imaging and non-contact infrared thermometers for monitoring skin temperature in a prospective cohort with lower limb cellulitis. BMJ Open 2025;15:e100667. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100667

Righi E, Mutters NT, Guirao X, Dolores Del Toro M, Eckmann C, Friedrich AW, Giannella M, Kluytmans J, Presterl E, Christaki E, Cross E, Visentin A, Sganga G, Tsioutis C, Tacconelli E. ESCMID/EUCIC clinical practice guidelines on perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in patients colonized by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria before surgery. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2022.12.012.

Righi E, Scudeller L, Mirandola M, Visentin A, Mutters NT, Meroi M, Schwabe A, Erbogasto A, Vantini G, Cross ELA, et al. Colonisation with Extended-Spectrum Cephalosporin-Resistant Enterobacterales and Infection Risk in Surgical Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Infect Dis Ther. 2023, doi: 10.1007/s40121-022-00756-z.

Cross EL, Tolfree R, Kipping R. Systematic review of public-targeted communication interventions to improve antibiotic use. The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 2016; 72(4):975-987.

Cross ELA, Sivyer K, Islam J, Santillo M, Mowbray F, Peto TEA, Walker AS, Yardley L, Llewelyn MJ. Adaptation and implementation of the ARK (Antibiotic Review Kit) Intervention to safely and substantially reduce antibiotic use in hospitals: A feasibility study. Journal of Hospital Infection. 2019; 103(3):268-275.

Roope LSJ., Buchanan J, Morrell L, Pouwels KB, Sivyer K, Mowbray F, Abel L, Cross ELA, Yardley L, Peto T, Walker AS, Llewelyn MJ, SWordsworth S. Why do hospital prescribers continue antibiotics when it is safe to stop? Results of a choice experiment survey. BMC Med 2020; 18, 196.