Talk Overview

We have all heard that bacteria are being coming resistant to treatment, but why and what does that actually mean?  In my talk we will reimagine what medical treatment will look like without antibiotics. We will explore all the current routine  treatments that will no longer be possible once antibiotics fail. If this all seems rather bleak, don’t worry we will also explore what we can do, how we can prevent this reimagined world occurring and the increasingly important role that vaccines will play in the future.

About the Speaker

Beckie is an immunologist and works in Queen’s University Belfast.  She did her degree in Zoology (Cell and Immunobiology) at Aberdeen University, this was followed by a Masters in Manchester and then a joint PhD in Parasitology and Pharmacy at Kings College London.  After graduating, for her first research position she was employed by Imperial College, London but based largely in Uganda studying immunity to HIV.  After this she continued to work at Imperial College but on a project focused on trying to develop vaccines that would prevent infections with the potential to be used as bioterror weapons.  In 2009 she moved to Queens and set up her own research group which focuses on trying to understand how the immune system fights bacterial infection and then using this information to design new medicines or vaccines.  She is part of the team that was recently funded by an HEA, Ireland to establish the All-Island Vaccine Research and Training network (AIVRT) to develop vaccines that will prevent antibiotic resistant infections.