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Blizard Institute - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Dr David Wareham, MB BS MSc PhD MRCP DGM DTM&H FRCPath

David

Clinical Senior Lecturer / Honorary Consultant in Microbiology

Email: d.w.wareham@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7882 2317

Profile

 

David Wareham qualified (MBBS) from the London Hospital Medical College in 1994 and trained in general medicine in East London and Essex before specialist training in Medical Microbiology in North East Thames (FRCPath). He was awarded a Clinical Training Fellowship to study aspects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity at Queen Mary University in 2002 and was appointed as Senior Clinical Lecturer in Microbiology in July 2005 (PhD). He is an Honorary Consultant Microbiologist at Barts Health, Newham University and Homerton NHS Trusts where he is responsible for aspects of intensive care microbiology. His current research interests include the molecular epidemiology, mechanisms of resistance and pathogenicity of Gram-negative nosocomial pathogens.

 

2008 – date: Associate Editor ‘BMC Infectious Diseases’
2008 – date: Royal College of Pathologists Appointments Advisory Committee (AAC) Assessor
2008 – date: Member of the UK Cystic Fibrosis Trust Microbiology Standards Working Party
2009 – date: Chair Barts and The London NHS Trust Antimicrobial Review Group

Summary

Antimicrobial resistance represents a formidable challenge to modern healthcare, with the real prospect that common infections may soon become untreatable. Our group is involved in characterizing the mechanisms underlying the development and persistence of resistance as well as the consequences this may have on the organism and its capacity to cause human disease. We combine genomics, molecular biology, in-vitro and in-vivo (invertebrates) studies, epidemiological and clinical data in an attempt to dissect the complex relationship between host, pathogen and resistance. Our research is driven by the problems we encounter in daily clinical practice and in recent years has focused on multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and carbapenem resistant Enterobacteria.   Areas of particular interest include the identification of novel resistance determinants, evaluation of novel antimicrobial treatments and combinations, virulence studies of emerging pathogens and interventions to prevent the spread of resistant organisms in the hospital environment.  Our work has been funded by industry, charities and research councils and we are keen to here from prospective students who would like to join our group and scientists with whom we can collaborate.


Our link to clinical practice is via Barts Health NHS Trust, a specialist teaching hospital in East London serving a population of > 1 million. A brand new hospital is due to open in 2012 and will contain a 44 bedded intensive care unit specializing in trauma medicine  The associated diagnostic microbiology laboratory processes in excess of  750,000 specimens / year and has been at the forefront in the introduction of new techniques (molecular, MALDI-Tof) in diagnostic microbiology.

Teaching

Lecturer and organiser of the Clinical Microbiology module for the BSc in Biomedical Science at Queen Mary University of London
Lecturer on the MSc Clinical Microbiology course at  Queen Mary University of London
Lecturer on the MB BS course at  Queen Mary University of London
Lecturer on the MB BS Graduate Entry Programme (GEP) at  Queen Mary University of London
Lecturer on the BDS Human Health and Disease modules at Queen Mary University of London
Lecturer on the MSc in Advanced Clinical Microbiology,  School of Molecular Medical Sciences, University of Nottingham

Topics for PhD supervision: 

  • Antimicrobial Resistance
  • β-lactamases
  • Molecular Epidemiology of Emerging Pathogens
  • Microbial Virulence and Pathogenicity
  • Gram-negative Sepsis

Research

Research Interests:

Antimicrobial resistance; β-lactamases; carbapenemases, novel antimicrobials; molecular epidemiology of nosocomial pathogens; Gram-negative sepsis; clinical microbiology; Acinetobacter baumannii; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Enterobacteriaeceae

Recent and ongoing research projects:

  • 2011 – 2012: Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd:
  • 2011 – 2014: Health Protection Agency PhD Studentship : ‘Extra-intestinal E. coli in the UK: the importance in bacteraemia vs. urinary tract infection / colonization of widespread clones and specific virulence factors.’
  • 2011: Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd: ‘Investigation of the Antimicrobial Activity of a Telavancin / Colistin Combination versus Multi-drug Resistant Gram-negative Bacteria’
  • 2010 - 2011: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Ltd ‘Effects of Efflux-mediated Tigecycline Resistance on the Pathogenicity of Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter baumannii in an in-vivo Model of Microbial Virulence’
  • 2009 – 2010: Astra Zeneca Ltd: ‘Enhanced Surveillance and Detection of Resistant Gram-negative Bacteria in Ventilator Associated Pneumonia’
  • 2007: Royal Society:  ‘Characterisation of a putative plasmid encoded lipotoxin from Bacteroides fragilis’
  • 2007: Royal College of Pathologists, Jean Shanks Pilot Award in Pathology: ‘Small silencing RNAs (SiRNAs) as Novel β-lactamase inhibitors’
  • 2007: University of London: ‘Sequence analysis of cryptic plasmids from multi-drug resistant strains of A. baumannii and their use in the construction of E. coli shuttle vectors’
  • 2006: Joan Dawkins Foundation: ‘Interaction of multi-drug resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii with human epithelial cells’
  • 2006: Mason Medical Research Foundation: ‘Identification of synergistic antimicrobial combinations with activity against epidemic multi-drug resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii’
  • 2006: Peel Medical Research Trust: ‘Multilocus sequence typing of Acinetobacter baumannii from London Hospitals’
  • 2005: Hospital Infection Society: ‘Action of commercial alcohol hand rubs on the growth and secretion of extracellular proteins from Acinetobacter baumannii OXA-23 outbreak strain’
  • 2001 – 2002: Joint Research Board of the Special Trustees of St Bartholomew's Hospital Clinical Training Fellowship: ‘Contribution of the of Pseudomonas aeruginosa type III secretion system to virulence in model systems and human infection’

Publications

Hornsey M, Wareham DW. In-vivo Efficacy of Glycopeptide / Colistin Combination Therapies in a Galleria mellonella Model of Acinetobacter baumannii Infection. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2011 55:3534-7

Wareham DW, Gordon NC, Hornsey MA. In-vitro Activity of Teicoplanin Combined with Colistin versus Multi-drug Resistant Strains of Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB). Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2011 66:1047-51

Gordon NC, Png K, Wareham DW. Potent Synergy and Sustained Bactericidal Activity of a Vancomycin / Colistin Combination versus Multi-drug Resistant Strains of Acinetobacter baumannii. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2010 54: 5316-5322

Gordon NC, Wareham DW. A Review of Clinical and Microbiological Outcomes Following Treatment of Infections Involving Multidrug Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii with Tigecycline. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2009, 63:775-80.


View all David Wareham's Research Publications at: http://www.researchpublications.qmul.ac.uk

Supervision

Primary

  • Agata Soltysinska
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