Stephen Fordham
- 01202 962300
- sfordham at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
- http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7814-2880
- Demonstrator In Biosciences
- Christchurch House C131, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
Research
Currently my research focuses on bacterial whole genome sequencing (WGS) of priority pathogens of clinical concern; mainly Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. WGS enables the complete genome of bacterial pathogens to be discerned. Such efforts not only allow the detection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence genes, but also enable the context of those genes to be resolved. Oftentimes, these genes are associated with mobile genetics elements (MGEs) which facilitate their dissemination. To perform such work, I use both long- and short- read sequencing approaches to build high-resolution genomes. Currently I am working with University Hospital Dorset (UHD) NHS Foundation Trust to characterize an extended spectrum β-lactamase K. pneumoniae strain causing a hospital wide outbreak. My work is supported by a Pfizer Global Medical Grant. In line with my sequencing analyses, I also produce publication quality images for improved story-telling. I use a mixture of Python plotting libraries to produce data visualization figures.
Journal Articles
- Fordham, S.M.E., Barrow, M., Mantzouratou, A. and Sheridan, E., 2024. Genomic analyses of an Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae urinary tract co-infection using long-read nanopore sequencing. MicrobiologyOpen, 13 (1).
- Fordham, S.M.E., Mantzouratou, A. and Sheridan, E., 2022. Prevalence of insertion sequence elements in plasmids relating to mgrB gene disruption causing colistin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. MicrobiologyOpen, 11 (1).
Website Links
- My personal Github profile, https://github.com/StephenFordham
- Klebsiella website serves as a supplement to showcase works associated with the PHAROS project and the secured Pfizer Global Medical Grant 68198087, https://klebsiellahome.herokuapp.com/
- Complete Bacterial Genome Assembly and Annotation Pipeline, https://github.com/StephenFordham/BacGenomePipeline
- Coding Tutorials, https://medium.com/@stephenfordham