Ms Clare Barker

I obtained a degree in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from Bristol University, followed by a Masters of Research in Biosciences from Cardiff University. During my masters I received training in bioinformatics and chose to do a project on the topic of pathogen genomics. This project was in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and involved genomic analysis of a global collection of 300 Shigella flexneri genomes. Following completion of my masters, I continued working in Cardiff as a research assistant on a project in collaboration with Public Health Wales involving E. coli bacteraemia isolates.

I have undertaken my DPhil in Oxford in the Maiden Lab, using genomic analyses to research archived outbreak isolates of Campylobacter. This project was funded by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Gastrointestinal Infections, and was in collaboration with Public Health England (PHE). I spend the majority of my time working within the Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit at PHE, where there is a large collection of historic isolates available. I am hoping that sequencing these past outbreaks may offer some insight into future outbreaks and provide information about long-term trends in campylobacteriosis in the UK.