Martin Maiden
The interaction of molecular epidemiology, population biology and public health for bacterial pathogens
My group studies the population biology and evolution of bacterial pathogens, with the objective of translating the insights obtained into benefits for human health. Our work focuses on two globally important pathogens, Neisseria meningitidis and Campylobacter jejuni, although we work on other pathogens through a variety of collaborations. We use a ‘Population Genomics’ approach, which combines data on genome sequence diversity with a variety of types of phenotypic information assembled from large representative bacterial isolate collections. Making extensive use of collaborations within and outside the Department, we explore these data with a range of analysis approaches including: epidemiological studies; dynamic modelling; and phylogenetic and genealogical investigations.