Home| Professor of Molecular Microbiology |
| Lead, Centre for Immunology and Infectious Disease, |
Contact details:
| Tel: | +44 20 7882 2323 |
| Fax: | +44 20 7882 2181 |
| Email: | l.m.c.hall@qmul.ac.uk |
| Address: | Centre for Immunology and Infectious Disease, |
Biography
Lucinda Hall graduated in Biology from the University of York in 1978, and gained her PhD from the University of Glasgow in 1981. She joined what was then the London Hospital Medical College in 1986 following four and a half years of post-doctoral research in molecular biology at the University of Geneva. She became Professor of Molecular Microbiology in 2010 and was elected Centre Lead in 2009.
With research interests in the molecular genetics of antibiotic resistance and microbial evolution, Lucinda teaches on the biology of bacteria and the role of molecular biology in clinical microbiology.
Research Activity
Research interests centre on the evolution of bacterial pathogens, particularly in relation to antibiotic resistance. Early development of molecular typing methods and the determination of antibiotic resistance mechanisms led to an interest in bacterial population structures and the factors that drive the acquisition, spread, and maintenance of resistance. Following the demonstration that resistance to sulphonamides in Escherichia coli is maintained despite minimal recent use in medicine, one interest is in the factors that underlie this persistence of resistance. Other projects relate to the genetic mechanisms of mutation in Streptococcus pneumoniae , particularly in relation to the evolution of multiresistant strains with international spread. A developing area of research is in the microbiota of the gut and its interaction with the host in health and disease, in collaboration with groups within and outside the Centre.
Key Publications
• Henderson-Begg, SK, Sheppard, CL, George, RC, Livermore, DM, Hall, LMC (2010) Mutation frequency in antibiotic-resistant and susceptible isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Int J Antimicrob Agents 35, 342-6
• Sheppard, CL, Pichon, B George, RC, Hall, LMC (2010) Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates expressing a capsule with epitopes of both serotypes 6A and 6B. Clin Vaccine Immunol 17, 1820-2.
• Henderson-Begg, SK, Roberts, A, Hall, LMC (2009) Diversity of putative Tn5253-like elements in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Int J Antimicrob Agents 33, 364-7.
• Bean, DC, Livermore, DM, Hall, LMC (2009) Characterization of plasmids imparting sulphonamide resistance in Escherichia coli: implications for persistence. Antimicrob Agents and Chemother 53, 1088-93.
• Shi, X, Hanley, SA, Faray-Kele, MC, Fawell, SC, Aduse-Opoku, J, Whiley, RA, Curtis, MA, Hall, LMC (2007) The rag locus of Porphyromonas gingivalis contributes to virulence in a murine model of soft tissue destruction. Infect Immun 75, 2071-2074.
