• Question: Do you think you will succeed in your research?

    Asked by woodlad_Scientist5 to Matt on 9 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Matthew Moore

      Matthew Moore answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      I certainly hope so 🙂

      My research focusses on a few different things. I’m interested in a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, mainly because it infects the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis and is the leading cause of death as a result and also because it is really common in hospitals. It’s interesting because it’s usually relatively harmless but in patients who are already a bit sick it can be really bad and even deadly!

      This bacteria is found all over the world so it varies greatly, those found in Australia will be different from those found in a hospital in Liverpool. I want to find out what differences in the genes are responsible for these differences.

      I also focus on a particular strain of this species called the Liverpool Epidemic Strain and so I have already been successful in looking at the genes of this type of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and finding out how it has spread around the UK and even to Canada!

      Hopefully some of this knowledge will inform doctors how to best treat infections with this bacteria and even save lives, perhaps by separating patients who have a particular type (a type that spreads around really easily for example).

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