Teamwork - over thirty years of microbial diagnostics.

As part of a collaboration with scientists from the University of Sunderland, the Freeman Hospital (Newcastle NHS Trust) and bioMérieux (a biotechnology multinational), Dr Graeme Turnbull leads a team of synthetic chemists and microbiologists at Northumbria University in the design, development, and testing of commercial media and methods for microbial diagnostics.

By targeting specific enzymes characteristic of pathogenic (e.g., C. difficile, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and food-borne (E. coli, Listeria spp., Salmonella spp.) bacteria, the team have designed probes that generate a specific, quantitative coloured or fluorescent response, or result in the release of volatile organic compounds to aid detection. This research has developed rapid diagnostic reagents that are incorporated into commercial systems sold in over 100 countries world-wide by bioMérieux, including the Vitekâ, TEMPOâ and ChromIDâ systems.

Graeme is the latest research group leader in collaboration now exceeding 30 years, incorporating the training of 15 PhD students, publication of 16 patents, and over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. His current research is focused on reducing the time-to-result for antimicrobial susceptibility testing and on developing novel substrates for the detection of emerging pathogens.

The collaboration was recently awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry 2022 Analytical Horizons Award with the citation:

“For improving global healthcare through the design of products that allow the rapid detection and identification of pathogenic bacteria, so that effective and responsible treatments may be administered."