Hi, I’m Daniel (he/him).
I’m a lecturer at the University of Bristol. My most recent research involved the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae which is known to cause many different types of infection including, namely, pneumonia. I was investigating the role of certain genes and their influence on the bacterium’s behaviour and disease-causing capability.
Now, I teach on a range of different university units, including medical microbiology and infectious diseases, dentistry (microbiology), cell biology units, and I am co-lead for Gene Expression and Rearrangement unit this year!
I grew up in South Wales, and studied my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of the West of England, in Bristol. I then worked for a small biotechnology company in Cardiff for about 4 years before embarking on a PhD.
My PhD was completed at the Cardiff University School of Dentistry, under the fantastic supervision of Prof. David Williams and Dr Melanie Wilson. I worked with the fungus Candida albicans and looked at how bacteria can influence the behaviour of this microbe in biofilms (think of dental plaque). I then obtained some funding to continue my research under the mentorship of Prof. Julian Marchesi at Cardiff University School of Biosciences for a year, before starting my current role in Bristol.
I have a wonderful family; my wife Lauren and two sons Ruben and Oliver, whom I adore. I love to spend time with them, watching them play, learn and grow and just admiring their inquisitive nature.
