Project finalist in East Midlands Chamber Awards

Our research investigating the stability of coronaviruses on leather surfaces was selected as a finalist in the Excellence in Collaboration category of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce Awards 2022.

The DMU and Micro-Fresh teams at the East Midlands Chamber Awards 2022

The research undertaken as a collaboration with Prof Katie Laird, the British Footwear Association, and Leicester-based company Micro-Fresh, increased our understanding of the potential transmission risks of coronaviruses from leather surfaces, and informed the infection control procedures recommended by the British Footwear Association to shoe manufacturers within the UK.

Fully-funded PhD available now

Future Microbiological Hurdles and Solutions for the Industrial Laundry Sector

Applications are now open for a fully-funded PhD scholarship to investigate the infection risks of contaminated textiles in healthcare settings. The project aims to assess the survival of spores and biofilms in wash systems, the development of disinfectant-resistant bacteria, and the transmission risk of bacteria and viruses from textiles to skin.

The project will be supervised by Prof Katie Laird and Dr Maitreyi Shivkumar at De Montfort University in Leicester, starting in January 2023. The project is also in collaboration with the Textile Services Association, and will include working closely with healthcare laundries and laboratories to explore real-world practical solutions for the industrial laundry sector.

Funding will cover home student fees, and includes a stipend of £15,840 per annum for three years.

Deadline for applications is 8th November 2022.

Click here for more information about the project and how to apply.

New blog post: From plants to drugs

One of our research interests is to investigate natural product compounds to develop them as novel antivirals.

In a new feature article for the Society for Applied Microbiology magazine, the Microbiologist, Ph.D. student Gemma Cooper writes about harnessing the antiviral activities of plant-derived natural product compounds.

The article appears in the September 2022 issue of The Microbiologist, and has also been reproduced on our blog here.