Our laboratory researches issues pertaining to antimicrobial resistance or, long term, the identification of novel targets for the development of new antibacterial drugs. In particular, our work has focused on antimicrobial resistance surveillance, molecular epidemiology, natural products and resistance mechanisms, particularly with the sexually transmitted pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, but also entailing research with other microorganisms. This work has been local, national and international in scope. We are also researching how round bacterial cells divide using N. gonorrhoeae and Enterococcus faecalis as model organisms. Our work has identified the genes implicated in cell division in these organisms as well as some of the protein-protein interactions and protein domains required for these events to take place. Currently, we are also exploring the implications of cell division mutations for pathogenicity and the regulation of cell division gene expression
