Mathew Stracy

Position: Group leader.

Mathew did his PhD in Oxford focusing on the fundamental molecular biology of Escherichia coli DNA-binding proteins, using genetic and microscopy methods. He then moved to the Technion Israel Institute of Technology as a postdoc to study how antibiotic resistance emerges during treatment of urinary tract infections using pathogen genomics and machine learning analysis of patient records. He moved back to Oxford in 2022 to start a lab in the Dunn School.

 
 

Carolin Kobras

Position: Postdoctoral researcher

Carolin obtained her BSc and MSc Biology degrees at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, before completing her PhD studies at the University of Bath. Over the course of her education, Carolin developed a keen interest in how antibiotics work and how bacteria become resistant against them. Before joining the Stracy Lab, Carolin was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield. Her research there focussed on understanding mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in the Gram-positive human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. At Oxford, Carolin investigates antibiotic tolerance, in which bacteria transiently enter a slow-growing state, allowing them to survive antibiotic treatment.

 
 

Laura de Nies

Position: Postdoctoral researcher

Laura obtained her MSc in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, before completing her PhD at the University of Luxembourg. Her research interests revolve around how different evolutionary processes shape antimicrobial resistance in microbial communities. Her research during her PhD has focused on resolving mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in different microbial reservoirs. She has now joined the Stracy Lab as a postdoctoral research to investigate the collateral effect of antibiotics on microbial communities of the gut.

 
 
 

Michelle Fan

Position: DPhil student

Michelle completed her undergraduate BSc (Hons) in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. During her undergrad, she worked in three different labs and developed a keen interest for everything about the gut microbiota. Currently, she is studying the collateral damage of antimicrobial resistance on the gut microbiota in the Stracy Lab. In her free time, you will find her either skiing down the alps or baking at home.

 
 
 

Lorena Blaya Martinez

Position: Research assistant

Lorena recently completed her undergraduate MBiochem at the University of Oxford. She did her Master's project and dissertation at the Dunn School, studying Drosophila centriole biogenesis. She's now working as a research assistant in the Stracy Lab, looking at the effect of antibiotics on the spread of antibiotic resistance across the gut microbiota. You'll find her trying to keep the lab plants alive.