Darren Smith

I am a Professor of Bacteriophage Biology at Northumbria University and have spent the last 2 decades studying temperate bacteriophages of E. coli and P. aeruginosa. My group focuses on how temperate phages, when integrated into the bacterial chromosome, subvert function to change; cellular metabolism, respiration and function. These physiological changes alter antimicrobial resistance, disease progression and how bacterial community structures develop in any environment. The current focus of my lab is the role of phages in chronic respiratory disease, how they alter bacterial community structure in preterm infants guts and their role in the development of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli.