Dr Ewan Harrison is Career Development Fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute; and a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Medicine and Honorary Senior Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, both at the University of Cambridge. He is the Deputy Lead of the Peacock Group. He completed his PhD at the University of Leicester on the genomics and pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 2009, supported by a Medical Research Council Studentship. Ewan is currently on secondment at COG-UK where he is Director of Strategy and Transformation.
Associate Director COG-UK
Katerina Galai
Dr Katerina Galai is a multidisciplinary scholar with research expertise in international law and cross-sector business experience. Before joining the Peacock group, Katerina spent three years at RAND Europe developing a portfolio of qualitative research methods and working on a number of UK and European research projects delivering analysis, impact and recommendations to senior policy makers. She is a UK expert on the use and regulation of private military companies and she recently published a monograph with Routledge on the topic. Katerina is associate Director for COG UK, heading up communications, governance, strategic planning, legal and financial functions.
Laboratory Manager
Beth Blane
Beth Blane has been the Laboratory Manager for the Peacock group since 2012 and is a Health and Care Professions Council registered Biomedical Scientist. Prior to this, she worked in the clinical microbiology lab at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. She has worked on a range of projects including the surveillance of carriage and transmission of healthcare-associated bacteria in a long-term health facility, the study of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, and most recently the implementation of real-time whole genome sequencing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a clinical setting. She is currently on secondment at COG-UK where she is the Logistics Manager.
Research Associate
Alessandro Maria Carabelli
Research Assistant
Catarina Sousa
Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialist Trainee
Dinesh Aggarwal
Administrator
Ellena Brooks
Research Associate
Kathy Raven
Research Assistant
Katie Bellis
Administrator
Kim Smith
Project Manager
Mireille Fragakis
Executive Assistant
Sarah Judges
Research Associate
Alessandro Maria Carabelli
Dr Alessandro Maria Carabelli joined the University of Cambridge Department of Medicine as a Research Associate in 2020. His PhD was undertaken at Nottingham University, under the supervision of Professor Paul Williams. This focused on the physical microbiology of polymers that are resistant to bacterial attachment, and explored the biological-material interface using an interdisciplinary approach. His current focus is the detection of SARS-CoV-2 mutations for public health benefit, working closely with an interdisciplinary team at COG-UK.
Research Assistant
Catarina Sousa
Catarina Sousa is a Research Assistant in the Peacock Group. She is a member of the COG-UK Consortium and is currently based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute where she is working on the CARRIAGE study. She gained her MSc in Biomedical Science, specialised in Medical Microbiology, from Middlesex University. She began her career working at the Public Health England Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory in Cambridge, where she worked in the Bacteriology, Virology and Molecular departments and was also part of the PHE Covid-19 response.
Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialist Trainee
Dinesh Aggarwal
Dr Dinesh Aggarwal completed his medical degree from University College London and the University of Cambridge in 2013. He is an Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialist Trainee in the London Deanery and was awarded a Wellcome Clinical PhD Fellowship in 2020 to understand the biological basis of Staphylococcus aureus carriage under the supervision of Prof Peacock, Prof Danesh and Dr Ewan Harrison at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Dinesh has recently completed studies to characterise SARS-CoV-2 importations, transmission within care homes, and universities as part of the Cambridge University Screening Study.
Administrator
Ellena Brooks
As a Project Coordinator for COG-UK, Ellena Brooks is part of both the Operations team and the Publications team. Before joining COG-UK in October 2020, they worked as a Research Centre Coordinator in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology.
Research Associate
Kathy Raven
Dr Kathy Raven is a genomic epidemiologist with expertise in antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in a range of settings. Kathy completed an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge in 2011, after which she joined the Peacock group where she obtained her PhD in microbial genetics. She has particular expertise in translating pathogen genomics into clinical and public health microbiology, and the evolution and transmission of pathogenic enterococci. In 2020, Kathy was awarded a Research Grant from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases to evaluate routine clinical Enterococcus faecium sequencing as an adjunct to infection prevention and control.
Research Assistant
Katie Bellis
Katie Bellis works as a Research Assistant on the CARRIAGE project, exploring the microbial and environmental underpinnings of nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage. She also manages the group’s lab space at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. She joined the group in 2017, after a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology. She is interested in the impact of microbial and physical environments on the fine line between pathogenicity and commensalism. Katie previously worked with Public Health England and Imperial College London on infant Group B Streptococcus infections, as part of an MRC project in The Gambia.
Administrator
Kim Smith
Kim Smith joined COG-UK in October 2020 as an Administrator. Prior to this, Kim gained experience within event coordination and previously worked within Health Education. Her experience includes logistical and administrative organisation, communications, project and budget planning.
Project Manager
Mireille Fragakis
Mireille Fragakis is a certified Project Manager with project delivery expertise gained in a multinational corporate environment. Project experience includes: Product delivery, Global Test projects, process improvement, optimisation and tool implementations. Mireille is a Project Manager for COG UK.
Executive Assistant
Sarah Judges
Sarah Judges joined COG-UK in April 2021 as an Executive Assistant to Sharon Peacock and Administrator for COG-UK. Before joining COG-UK, Sarah gained experience within Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and previously worked as an Office Manager within Primary Education.
AFFILIATED MEMBERS
Genomic Epidemiologist
Catherine Ludden
Senior Program Officer in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Estée Török
Consultant Medical Microbiologist
Fiona Cooke
Computational Biologist
Francesc Coll
Microbiology Consultant
Michelle Toleman
Senior Bioinformatician
Narender Kumar
Consultant
Theo Gouliouris
Genomic Epidemiologist
Catherine Ludden
Dr Catherine Ludden is a genomic epidemiologist with expertise in the origin and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. She completed her PhD in 2014 at the National University of Ireland Galway, and then joined the Peacock group to work on the genomic epidemiology of nosocomial pathogens. In 2016, she was awarded a Sir Henry Postdoctoral Wellcome Fellowship at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to develop a One Health approach to the origin and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in the UK. She is an International Ambassador for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Catherine is currently on a secondment at COG-UK where she is Director of Operations.
Senior Program Officer in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Estée Török
Dr Estee Torok is a Senior Program Officer in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is also a clinical academic at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, where her research has focused on translating pathogen genomic sequencing into clinical practice. She has a lifelong interest in global health and over 20 years’ clinical research experience in malaria, TB, HIV, viral hepatitis, antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19. She has published over 130 scientific research articles and three books and is highly committed to education & training, and equity, diversity & inclusion.
Consultant Medical Microbiologist
Fiona Cooke
Dr Fiona Cooke is a Consultant Medical Microbiologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. She studied at Cambridge and Oxford where she won the ‘gold medal’ for clinical finals and trained in medicine and microbiology at various London hospitals. Her PhD, co-supervised by Prof Gordon Dougan, looked at genomic diversity in Salmonella typhimurium, focusing on antibiotic resistance genes. She is an Official Fellow, College Lecturer and Dean of Discipline at Girton College, University of Cambridge; Sub Dean (University of Cambridge Clinical School) with responsibility for Welfare; and Training Programme Director, Medical Microbiology, East of England.
Computational Biologist
Francesc Coll
Dr Francesc Coll is a computational biologist with expertise in bacterial genomics and clinical microbiology. He completed his PhD in 2014 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on the genomics of strain genotyping and drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. He then joined the Peacock group at the University of Cambridge to work on the genomic epidemiology of nosocomial pathogens. He secured a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2016 to work in the application of genome-wide association studies in bacteria. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the LSHTM and continues to collaborate with the Peacock group on a variety of projects.
Microbiology Consultant
Michelle Toleman
Dr Michelle Toleman is a final year Microbiology Specialist Trainee in Cambridge. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge Wellcome Trust PhD Programme for Clinicians where she researched the use of genomics for surveillance of MRSA, supervised by Professor Sharon Peacock and Professor Julian Parkhill. Her research interests are public health microbiology and surveillance of infection, especially across the primary and secondary care interface.
Senior Bioinformatician
Narender Kumar
Dr Narender Kumar works in the Global Pneumococcal Sequencing project as a Senior bioinformatician at Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK. Prior to this, he worked in the Peacock group on TB genomics. His areas of expertise focus on genomic analysis of a range of pathogens. He has also developed TB sequencing capacity and capabilities in India. Narender is active in teaching and education, including online and face-to-face data analysis workshops including Wellcome Advanced Courses, UK.
Consultant
Theo Gouliouris
Dr Theo Gouliouris is a Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He completed a PhD with the Peacock group as part of a Wellcome Research Training Fellowship using bacterial genomics to study the hospital and community spread of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. His research interests are on the clinical and public health applications of bacterial genomics in relation to antimicrobial resistant and healthcare-associated infections. Theo is a tutor and co-lead for the Infection module of the MSt course in Genomic Medicine at the Institute of Continuing Education.
