Sam Sheppard

Research Interests

My research centres on the use of genetics/genomics and phenotypic studies to address complex questions in the ecology, epidemiology and evolution of microbes. My most recent work focuses upon comparative genome analysis to describe the core and flexible genome of pathogenic bacteria, especially Campylobacter, and how this is related to population genetic structuring, the maintenance of species, and the evolution of host/niche adaptation and virulence.

Contacts

Selected Publications

• Sheppard SK, McCarthy ND, Jolley KA, Maiden MC (2011). Introgression in the genus Campylobacter: generation and spread of mosaic alleles. Microbiology 157:1066-1074
• Hastings R, Colles FM, McCarthy ND, Maiden MC, Sheppard SK (2011). Campylobacter genotypes from poultry transportation crates indicate a source of contamination and transmission. Journal of Applied Microbiology 110:266-76.
• Sheppard SK, Colles F, Richardson J, Cody AJ, Elson R, Lawson A, Brick G, Meldrum R, Little CL, Owen RJ, Maiden MC, McCarthy ND (2010). Host association of Campylobacter genotypes transcends geographic variation. Applied Environmental Microbiology 76:5269-77.
• Sheppard SK, Dallas JF, Strachan NJ, MacRae M, McCarthy ND, Wilson DJ, Gormley FJ, Falush D, Ogden ID, Maiden MC, Forbes KJ (2009). Campylobacter genotyping to determine the source of human infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases 48:1072-8.
• Sheppard SK, McCarthy ND, Falush D, Maiden MC (2008). Convergence of Campylobacter species: implications for bacterial evolution. Science 320:237-9.