Kirsty Sands

Microbiologist

I always liked microbiology during my university course in Biomedical Sciences – it was always the most “hands on” and the laboratory work was the most fun! In 2016, I completed my PhD thesis at Cardiff University within the School of Dentistry. My research examined biofilm communities associated with mechanical ventilation in intensive care patients. I completed my PhD whilst also practising as an NHS Biomedical Scientist in the diagnostics department. After my PhD I joined Professor Walsh’s team in the BARNARDS project (neonatal sepsis) at Cardiff in June 2016. My role in BARNARDS was to set up the genomics laboratory and ever since then I have focused on sequencing bacterial genomes to look at what antibiotic resistance genes they may be carrying. I moved to the University of Oxford in 2021 and I still continue to work on large international research studies focusing on antimicrobial resistance (and I still enjoy it!).