Microbe Mayhem

Whilst the pandemic is over for most of us, over a million people in the UK are living under the shadow of Long COVID. Previously fit and healthy people have been left with brain fog, fatigue, and breathlessness affecting their daily lives. This condition persists for months to years after initial infection and can impact any part of the body. We will talk about what we know about the underlying causes, where the research is heading here in Exeter and around the world, and how we can help people living with Long Covid today.

A century ago, diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria were among the biggest killers, but today antibiotics provide us with much longer and healthier lives. But now there is a real risk of us going back to those dark times, as more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to the antibiotics. To avoid such a future, researchers like me are trying to use bacteriophage, which are viruses that specifically target and kill bacteria, as a weapon against harmful bacteria. In this talk, I will walk you through the surprising historical origins of phage therapy, its recent successes, failures, and challenges.

Will the Last of Us happen? Although Cordyceps is not a risk to humans, there are many more fungi that do pose a significant threat to human health, and they are becoming increasingly resistant to antifungal drugs currently available. Our lab works on a number of these bugs and we are looking at and for new ways and new drugs to treat the infections they cause.