معرفی
Abigail Clements is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London and serves as a Group Leader at the Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology (CBRB). She joined Imperial in 2009 as a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow, following postdoctoral work at Monash University and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis, particularly the molecular mechanisms governing virulence in Shigella and Klebsiella pneumoniae. She investigates how these pathogens adapt to host environments, evade immune responses, and develop antimicrobial resistance, with a strong emphasis on structural biology, cellular microbiology, and biochemistry.
- Education:
- PhD in Microbiology at the University of Melbourne (Advisor: Prof. Richard Strugnell)
- Postdoctoral Research at Monash University (Advisor: Prof. Trevor Lithgow)
- Marie Curie Fellowship at Imperial College (Advisor: Prof. Gad Frankel)
Dr. Clements' research spans interdisciplinary areas including bacterial genetics, host-pathogen interactions, and the role of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in pathogen survival. Her work on Shigella species addresses their differing global epidemiology, exploring how molecular mechanisms vary between Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei. For Klebsiella pneumoniae, her lab studies high-risk AMR-resistant lineages, such as ST258, focusing on how genetic and biochemical traits drive virulence and resistance. She employs advanced techniques like cryo-electron microscopy and lectin arrays to dissect pathogen behavior at the cellular level.
Her publications highlight trends in understanding antibiotic resistance mechanisms, bacterial surface antigen roles, and the interplay between pathogens and host immune systems. Notable topics include OmpK36 protein structure-function relationships, LPS O-antigen contributions to capsule retention, and the impact of colicins in bacterial competition. Current projects aim to uncover molecular pathways that could be targeted for novel therapies against multi-drug-resistant pathogens.
- Affiliations:
- Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology (CBRB)
- Institute of Infection
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London
- Labs/Teams:
- CBRB Group Leadership
- Frankel Lab (Imperial College)
- Collaborations in microbial genomics and structural biology
