The Influences and Therapeutic use of Bacteriophage Against Campylobacter Entering the Human Food Chain

<p>The research aims to investigate and predict fluctuations in the populations of campylobacter-associated bacteriophages and their bacterial prey through a combination of theoretical and experimental methods.

<p>The aim is to be able to harness the potential of bacteriophages to control the populations of campylobacter within poultry at the time of slaughter.

<p>This research project will examine the populations of naturally occurring bacteriophages and how these influence the number of campylobacter entering the human food chain from poultry.

<p>Approaches and research plan are as follows:<ul>

<li>to determine individual-level parameters and population-level phenomena of the in vitro dynamics of bacteriophage and campylobacter populations
<li>to develop pharmacokinetic models appropriate to phage-bacteria interactions in the gut.
<li>to investigate the impact of phage-treatment strategies on the carriage and shedding of campylobacter genotypes from colonised chickens
<li>to develop and test predictive models of phage therapy in contexts where campylobacter-specific bacteriophages are used as control measures against the sources of infection in broiler houses
<li>to understand the epidemiology of phage with respect to observed molecular changes in the host DNA and correlate these with the genotypes of environmental isolates
<li>to describe the evolution of phage and bacteria post phage therapy using mathematical models, and from those models to predict optimal treatment protocols that minimise evolution of resistant bacteria.
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