Dr Ben Evans

Biography

My work focusses on healthcare-associated bacterial pathogens, and investigating why they are successful. Pathogens we particularly focus on are Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus.

I did my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, followed by postdoctoral positions at the University of Manchester and University of Liverpool. I then took up a lecturing position at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, before moving to the Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia.

The work of my group can be broadly described under two interlinked topics: drug resistance, and pathogen adaptation and evolution.

Drug resistance:
We are interested in understanding the mechanisms responsible for drug resistance, how these have evolved, and how they spread. An example of current work in this area are projects looking at how drugs used for various health conditions, such as cancer chemotherapy, and metformin used to treat diabetes, are impacting bacteria and may lead to cross-resistance to antimicrobials.

Pathogen adaptation and evolution:
Our work looks at how bacterial pathogens are adapting and evolving to the human healthcare environment. Current projects in this area are investigating the evolutionary signatures within the species Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to identify regions of the genome under selection, and adaptation of specific lineages within the species to specific clinical niches.