Centre of Infection and Antimicrobial Research (CINAMR)

Professor Simon Waddell
Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis

Simon is Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and Research Lead for the Department of Global Health and Infection at BSMS. He is Secretary to the Acid Fast Club and Chair of the NTM Network UK Basic Science Group. His research focuses on improving drug therapies for mycobacterial diseases, including tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). He joined BSMS after a PhD in bacterial pathogenicity at St Georges University of London, and a postdoctoral research position at Stanford University, US, profiling host responses to infection.

He has extensive expertise in the RNA biology of mycobacteria, and his lab uses genome-wide technologies to understand antimicrobial drug action during human disease, to define bacterial populations that survive early drug therapy, and to identify the mode of action of novel anti-mycobacterial compounds. He has published in high impact journals such as Science, PLoS Medicine, BMC Medicine, Cell Host & Microbe, Nature Communications and Lancet Microbe, with funding from sources including BBSRC, MRC, NC3Rs, Royal Society and Wellcome Trust.

Email: S.Waddell@bsms.ac.uk

Dr Leena Al-Hassan
Senior Research Fellow in Global Health and Infection

Leena Al-Hassan is a principal research fellow at the Department of Global Health and Infection leading an independent research group investigating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), hypervirulence, molecular epidemiology, and infection transmissions of Gram-Negative bacteria. She obtained her PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh in 2013. Since joining BSMS, Dr Al-Hassan has established and led numerous research projects in the field of antibiotic resistance with a global health outlook, emphasising capacity building and multidisciplinary collaboration as core to the research activities, and showcasing the productive interaction between biomedical and social scientists from several countries and fostered true collaboration in an educative, stimulating and sustainable way.

Email: L.Al-Hassan@bsms.ac.uk

Dr James Price
Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Infection

James Price is a clinical and academic expert in infection prevention and control. He leads a research group focused on translates pathogen genomics into practical tools for healthcare, helping to reduce the spread of infections and antimicrobial resistance. James has published widely and received multiple national and international awards recognising his contributions to infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. He is Secretary of the Healthcare Infection Society and contributes to national and international advisory groups. His recent appointment as Academic Director of the Sussex Health and Care Research Partnership reflects his commitment to connecting research, policy and real-world impact.

Email: j.price@bsms.ac.uk

Nick works with businesses and academics across the faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine to support collaborative projects. This includes facilitating opportunities such as contract research, consultancy, Innovate UK funding (including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships), IP licensing, and business development. He manages relationships and projects to ensure effective engagement and compliance. His previous experience in the civil service included project management, stakeholder engagement, and policy development across education and industry.

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.

Bethany’s undergraduate medical training was at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and University College London. She studied pathology for her 3rd year, when she started to discover her interest in bacteria and parasites. Post-qualification, she worked at a number of hospitals in central London, working out that she was a medic at heart, and a medic that liked infections at that.

Bethany moved to Brighton halfway through her specialist training in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology; here she gained the opportunity to explore her interest in teaching through a clinical teaching fellow post at BSMS. This afforded her a wealth of experience in both teaching and qualitative research and was the springboard to her current work. She completed her specialist training in 2017 and was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Infection at BSMS, with an honorary consultant position in Infectious Diseases at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust. This is currently at LTFT. 

Maria is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Infection at BSMS and an honorary Registrar in Infectious Diseases & Microbiology. She has worked on a number of impactful research studies and played a key role in establishing the largest national dataset of infections in care homes (Vivaldi and Vivaldi Social Care), which was one of the main data sources for government surveillance of COVID-19 in these settings, informing national policy decisions. Her work has been published in high-impact journals including Lancet ID, New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine. Her research interests span the use of routine data and novel technologies for surveillance and prevention of infections in care homes, and engagement and co-production to ensure the voices of participants are represented.

Martin is Professor of Infectious Diseases, Department of Global Health and Infection at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. He is a consultant physician and Clinical Director of Research and Innovation at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust and Academic Director of the Brighton and Sussex Health Research Partnership. He chairs the Royal College of Physicians Joint Specialist Committee on Infectious Diseases, is a member of the Department of Health Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Prescribing, Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (APRHAI) and was formally president of the British Infection Association.

Martin’s research focuses on antimicrobial stewardship and clinical trials. He led the Antibiotic Review Kit (ARK)-hospital trial, and is currently co-CI of the DURation of Antibiotic Treatment in urinary tract InfectiON (DURATION-UTI Trial). He has authored more than 150 academic papers and contributed to national and international guideline development in the field of antimicrobial stewardship and prescribing. Martin’s clinical practice is infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship.

Sid is a clinical epidemiologist and healthcare systems specialist working on healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. He joined the Department of Global Health and Infection at BSMS as an Assistant Professor in Global Health and Infection Epidemiology. He also works as a specialist hospital epidemiologist at University Hospitals Sussex, focusing on infection prevention and control. He is interested in healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance epidemiology in high-income and low-income countries, with a focus on building healthcare resilience through robust infection surveillance, utilising innovative solutions like AI led predictive technologies to improve patient outcomes. 

Melanie is a Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health. She was awarded her PhD in 1996, having investigated the genetic basis of a rare immunodeficiency that increased susceptibility to mycobacterial infections in a Maltese family.  This work led to the discovery of a new clinical syndrome, Mendelian Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Diseases (OMIM #107470). As a post-doctoral researcher, Melanie led the TB genetics group at the MRC Laboratories in The Gambia, setting up a new lab, and contributing as co-investigator to the landmark Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that included malaria and TB.

Melanie’s research now focuses more on tropical diseases (both infectious and non-communicable), investigating the genetic basis of podoconiosis (non-filarial elephantiasis), a neglected tropical disease that contributes to significant morbidity and poverty in affected populations. We have identified a major susceptibility locus for this disease, and studies have been extended into other populations and other related neglected diseases. We also have a growing interdisciplinary research project on antimicrobial resistance working with partners from other schools at the University of Sussex, the Institute of Development Studies and a range of colleagues based in institutions in Europe and Africa. The team has received grant funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council (UK), NC3Rs, UKAid and the University of Sussex.

Simon is an Academic Clinical Lecturer and Specialist Registrar in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology in the department of Global Health and Infection at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Simon is passionate about integrating basic science research into the clinical management of infection, with a view to narrowing the gap between pre-clinical and clinical studies. Simon has worked with BSMS since taking up an Academic Clinical Fellowship in 2016 and completed his PhD at Imperial College London. Simon’s research with the department has encompassed both fundamental biology and clinical studies. Through CINAMR Simon hopes to elucidate the fundamental biology underpinning antibiotic treatment failure.  

Jaime Vera is a Chair in HIV Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and Head of the Department of Global Health and Infection. He obtained his medical degree from the Columbian School of Medicine followed by training in general internal medicine in London. In 2008, he was granted a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Fellowship in HIV Medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College London, where he subsequently completed his specialist training in HIV and Genitourinary Medicine. In 2011, He was awarded Wellcome Trust Translational Medicine and Therapeutics Fellowship. During his PhD, he investigated the pathogenic mechanisms associated with neuroinflammation in HIV using novel brain imaging and immunological approaches. Jaime is also a Consultant Physician for the Lawson unit at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust where he is the clinical lead for the combined HIV and geriatrics, neurology, and memory clinics. Jaime is also an investigator for the Clinical Research Facility based the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Daisy is an infectious diseases and microbiology registrar in training in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deanery (ST5 Infectious Diseases), and she is currently undertaking pre-doctoral research with the support of the University Hospitals Sussex charity. Her research interests focus on the care of patients who inject drugs with injecting related infections, health equity, public health and missingness in infectious diseases. She also holds honorary positions with UK Health Security Agency and Brighton and Sussex Medical School and she is a committee member with the British Infection Association Early Career Researchers Committee.

She believes in the power of interdisciplinary and participatory research and the importance of collaboration with experts by experience to keep CINAMR research resonant and relevant to the communities we serve.  

Lisa is a Centre Administrator for CINAMR alongside Debbie Miller, providing administrative support for the centre directors, executive group and the advisory board. The role involves arranging regular meetings for the centre, organisation of external meetings/conferences, updating the CINAMR website and other administrative duties.

Lisa also provides administrative support for the senior clinical academics in the Global Health and Infection team at BSMS. Her role covers diary management, conference organisation, composition of interview panels for both clinical and non-clinical posts, travel arrangements and finance.

Debbie offers a broad range of administrative support to the Head of the Global Health and Infection Department (GHI) and the senior clinical academics within the GHI team at BSMS. Her responsibilities include managing diaries, coordinating meetings and conferences in the UK and overseas, dealing with the HR processes for clinical and non-clinical roles, arranging travel, and handling financial tasks.

In addition, she is a Centre Administrator for CINAMR alongside Lisa Baker. In this capacity, she supports the centre directors, executive group, and advisory board with a range of administrative functions. These include attending regular internal meetings, organising external conferences and events, assisting with the CINAMR website, and many other administrative duties.