David L Wakeham BACPATH 2017

David L Wakeham

David is a Veterinary Microbiology PhD student and is currently working on a bioinformatics project under the supervision of A. Prof. Scott Beatson. He completed a Bachelor of Science (Animal Science) with first class honours at the University of Adelaide in 2013, with a focus on Fluoroquinolone-resistant extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) of Australian companion animals. Following this, David moved to the School of Veterinary Science at The University of Queensland to start his PhD. David’s major research interests are surveillance, epidemiology, bioinformatics and molecular risk assessment of zoonotic and antimicrobial resistant gram-negative bacteria in livestock and companion animals of Australia with a One Health focus. Currently he is investigating how whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics can be used to detect the genetic basis of antimicrobial resistance in livestock associated E. coli infections. David has a broad range of skills in wet lab methods, particularly microbiology and molecular biology techniques. He is currently rapidly learning bioinformatics techniques, which will complement his already extensive laboratory skill-set. Additionally, David is a tutor of Microbiology and Genetics subjects at UQ. His interests include attending a wide variety of music concerts, a big love of all animals and he is very passionate about science communication.