Jonathan Edgeworth

Consultant microbiologist

Biography

Jonathan focusses on prevention, diagnosis and management of bacterial infections, particularly those due to antimicrobial resistant bacteria or that develop in people while in hospital.

He works in the diagnostic laboratory and on the wards providing an advisory service to clinicians to help them ensure their patients get appropriate antibiotic therapy, whilst limiting unnecessary antibiotic use that drives resistance.

Jonathan leads the clinical microbiology and infection consult service for critical care that includes a nationally commissioned extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation service.

He is also Director of the Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR). The centre hosts academic clinicians, scientists, epidemiologists and research nurses focussed on epidemiology, surveillance and prevention of infections due to multi-drug resistant bacteria, development an evaluation of novel diagnostics, and clinical studies that improve the evidence base for effective use of antibiotics.

Jonathan has also been an active researcher for over 30 years. He started doing basic research to understand how bacteria cause disease and how we fight infection, but since joining the Trust in 2002 he has focussed on MRSA and more recently multi-drug resistant Gram negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) such as E. coli, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas.

Education and training

  • Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), 2006
  • Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship – St George’s Hospital and Pasteur Institute, 1998-2002
  • Master of Science (MSc) Microbiology, 1998
  • Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), 1994
  • General medical and specialty training in clinical microbiology, 1991-1998
  • Intercalated PhD in Immunology – Cancer Research UK, 1986-1989
  • Undergraduate medical training – King's College London and Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge, 1983-1991

Research interests

The core objective of Jonathan's research is to provide information and evidence that helps clinical teams reduce antimicrobial resistance whilst also ensuring patients get the antibiotics they need.

The research includes:

  • understanding how resistant bacteria spread in the hospital and community
  • optimising screening and interventions to prevent spread
  • developing better diagnostics that can determine when patients do or do not need antibiotic
  • understanding how long to treat patients with antibiotics
  • understanding how the latest technological advances including bacterial genome sequencing can help identify and control bacteria that are more transmissible and virulent

Last updated: January 2023

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