I joined New College as a Non-Stipendiary Todd Bird Junior Research Fellow in 2025. My academic journey began at the University of Edinburgh, where I studied Biochemistry. During my undergraduate studies, I completed several research projects focused on understanding how pathogens defend themselves against various stresses, such as antimicrobial drugs and immune responses. It was during my honours project in the laboratory of Professor Alan Archibald, investigating how the bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis manipulates host cells to promote its survival, that my fascination with bacterial–host interactions truly began.

Following this, I completed a PhD within the Infection and Immunity theme at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Professor Ross Fitzgerald. My doctoral research explored how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus evades both human and avian immune defences. In 2022, I moved to the University of Oxford to begin a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Professor Stephan Uphoff, where I have been applying advanced single-molecule microscopy techniques to investigate how bacteria regulate essential processes while residing within immune cells.

Research Interests

My research is driven by a deep interest in how bacteria cause disease, with the broader goal of identifying new strategies to combat bacterial infections and to understand how simple infections can progress into complex diseases. I am particularly intrigued by how the pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, has evolved the remarkable ability to survive within immune cells, the very cells designed to eliminate them. Studying bacterial processes within these environments poses a unique challenge, as the pathways involved are often highly complex or essential for survival, making them difficult to manipulate experimentally.

My current work focuses on elucidating essential bacterial processes at the single-cell level during infection, with a particular emphasis on DNA maintenance and repair within immune cells. DNA repair is crucial for preserving genome integrity under stress and directly influences bacterial adaptability and survival. Although DNA repair is already recognised as an effective target for antimicrobial therapies, its interplay with host immune defences remains poorly understood. By investigating these processes, I aim to uncover how bacteria persist within hostile environments and, ultimately, contribute to the development of novel strategies to treat bacterial infections.

Selected Publications

• (2025) Bacterial metabolic remodelling by convergent evolution in response to host niche-dependent nutrient availability. 
  Pickering, A., Gorzynski, J., Taylor-Joyce, G., Fox, W., Melo, P., Alves, J., Schlauch, H., Sargison, F., Yebra, G. and Fitzgerald, J.R. bioRxiv, pp.2024-09.
• (2024) Time-lapse mesoscopy of Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus dual-species biofilms reveals a structural role for the hyphae of C. albicans in biofilm formation. 
  Baxter, K., Sargison, F.A., Fitzgerald, J.R., McConnell, G., Hoskisson, P.A. Microbiology: doi: 10.1099/mic.0.001426
• (2021) Characterisation of autophagy disruption in the ileum of pigs infected with Lawsonia intracellularis. 
  Salvesen, H.A., Sargison, F.A., Archibald, A.L. and Ait-Ali, T. Veterinary Research Communications 41: 585-592. doi: 10.1007/s11259-021-09847-7.
• (2021) Advances in transposon mutagenesis of Staphylococcus aureus: Insights into pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance. 
  Sargison, F.A. and Fitzgerald, J.R. Trends in Microbiology 29(4): 282-285. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.11.003.
• (2021) A case report: insights into reducing plastic waste in a microbiology laboratory. 
  Alves, J., Sargison, F.A., Stawarz, H., Fox, W.B., Huete, S.G., Hassan, A., McTeir, B. and Pickering, A.C. Access microbiology 3(3). doi: 10.1099/acmi.0.000173
• (2016) Gastrointestinal nematode species diversity in Soay sheep kept in a natural environment without active parasite control. 
  Sinclair, R., Melville, L., Sargison, F., Kenyon, F., Nussey, D., Watt, K. and Sargison, N. Veterinary Parasitology 227. pp.1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2016.07.020.