Grant January

Grant January is Lecturer in Microbiology at the University of Plymouth's School of Biomedical Sciences. His research focuses on antibiotic discovery from marine environments, particularly polar regions, through advanced bioprospecting approaches.

As Research Fellow on the SA-UK Antibiotic Accelerator project, he investigates marine-derived antimicrobial compounds from Antarctic and South African environments. Research combines genomics, metabolomics and traditional microbiology to identify novel bioactive compounds from marine bacteria and algae.

Key research areas:

• Marine natural product discovery
• Antimicrobial resistance solutions
• Polar microbiome exploration
• Bioactive polysaccharide extraction

Recent work includes metabologenomic characterization of Antarctic bacteria and optimization of fucoidan extraction methods.

Previously served as Biotechnology tutor and demonstrator at Rhodes University, teaching microbiology and bioprocessing techniques. Maintains collaborations with South African research institutions including Rhodes University and CPUT.