Daphne Jackson Research Fellow
In 2001 I completed an industrially sponsored PhD at Glasgow Caledonian University, in Bacterial Systematics, enhancing the bacterial identification products of my sponsor bioMérieux Inc. Afterwards, I moved to the USA as a post-doctoral scientist, and I led a team developing the Bacillus identification product part of the VITEK®2 Compact automated identification system. My responsibility was to move the project from research to development, delivering a commercially robust product whilst adhering to the strict policies of the biotechnology industry. I returned to the UK due to my husband’s job commitments in 2004, at a point where I could continue on the Bacillus project as a consultant, based in Glasgow. I implemented evaluation trials of the VITEK®2, alongside the taxonomic study of Bacillus species, and progressed to a Research Fellowship in microbiology at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2005, where I was based for the next 7 years.
Up to 2012 I had published 22 peer reviewed papers, co-authored an invited book chapter, and reviewed articles for several journals including the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. At this stage I had three children aged 7 years, 5 and 1, and had successfully fitted academic research work around three periods of maternity leave as well as other family commitments.