1956-2012: 57 years of continuous service to microbiology in New Zealand

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Employed by | AgResearch td.

Areas of expertise |

I completed my BSc(Hons) in Microbiology from the University of Manchester in 1992 and stayed there to undertake a PhD investigating the adherence and colonisation factors of Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella nigrescens, two proteolytic oral bacteria involved in periodontal disease. After my PhD I undertook a series of Post Doctoral positions (1996-2001) at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Addlestone (UK) identifying the adherence factors of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) which were just becoming recognised as significant foodborne pathogens with several large outbreaks both in the UK and internationally. I was in a multi-disciplinary team developing animal models to determine where the main sites of colonisation were for this pathogen and which virulence factors were significant in mediating long term colonisation. I came to New Zealand in 2001 to work on a variety of rumen microbiology areas including bacteriocin production, fibre degradation and more recently the adherence of fibrolytic bacteria to complex plant polysaccharides. I also am involved in a number of programmes investigating the interaction of the gut microbiota with the host and various food components and this has led to the identification of several novel probiotic bacterial strains which have been commercialised and included in a calf milk replacer preparation. I have also maintained a focus on foodborne zoonoses and collaborate with Professor Nigel French and the Molecular Epidemiology, Public Health and Infectious Diseases team at the Hopkirk Institute (Massey University). Our current programmes are establishing the prevalence and faecal shedding of  STEC in cattle and the diversity, population structure and emergence of various Campylobacter sequence types. I am also currently President of the New Zealand Microbiological Society and work closely with the great committee to ensure that the importance and profile of microbiology in New Zealand is recognised and enhanced.

Type of activities |

I am involved in both academic and industrial research

Contact details |

AgResearch Grasslands, Grasslands Research Centre, Tennent Drive, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North

telephone: 06 351 8229 

email: adrian.cookson@agresearch.co.nz

 

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