Dr Prerna Vohra

Lecturer in Microbiology

Email: PRERNA.VOHRA@ED.AC.UK
Web: University of Edinburgh Research Explorer Profile

Street: Ashworth Laboratories,
Charlotte Auerbach Road,
The King’s Buildings
City: EDINBURGH
Post code: EH9 3FL

Biography

Background

2019 Lecturer in Microbiology, Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh

2013 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh

Projects: Developing and evaluating the efficacy of glycoconjugate vaccines against poultry pathogens; Defining the host cell tropism of Salmonella enterica in cattle; Studying survival of Salmonella serovars in vivo; Assigning niche-specific phenotypes to Salmonella genes in vivo

2013 Postdoctoral Research Associate, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Projects: Developing glycoconjugate vaccines for porcine pathogens; Understanding N-linked glycosylation in Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

2012 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh

Projects: Developing novel oral vaccines for diarrhoeal diseases in Bacteroides fragilis; Studying the function of wzzB in Bacteroides fragilis; Understanding small capsule production in Bacteroides fragilis

Qualifications

2011 PhD in Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh

Thesis title: Clostridium difficile: expression of virulence factors, resistance to disinfectants and interactions with human cells

2007 MSc by Research (Distinction) in Life Sciences, University of Edinburgh

Final thesis title: Comparative analysis of growth and toxin production in two virulent strains of Clostridium difficile

2006 BSc Honours (Distinction) in Microbiology, Biochemistry and Environmental Science and Pollution, St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai

Research

Research summary

Enteric bacteria are varied and wonderful. Some, like Bacteroides, are friendly and help us to stay healthy while others, like Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and C. difficile, wreak havoc and often give us diarrhoea! My main research interests are understanding how these bacteria interact with their hosts and developing strategies to control pathogenic bacteria.

My current research focusses on Salmonella, which causes disease in humans and livestock. Ongoing projects include developing a live-attenuated vaccine to prevent salmonellosis, investigating alternative vaccine strategies, trying to understand why different types of Salmonella behave differently in different host species and expanding a sequencing methodology I developed to study mixed strain-infections of Salmonella to other enteric pathogens like Campylobacter and E. coli.

Publications

Evaluation of a Campylobacter jejuni N-glycan-ExoA glycoconjugate vaccine to reduce C. jejuni colonisation in chickens 16 Nov 2021 In: Vaccine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.10.085
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
Multivalent poultry vaccine development using Protein Glycan Coupling Technology 2 Oct 2021 In: Microbial Cell Factories, vol. 20
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-021-01682-4
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Ecological niche adaptation of Salmonella Typhimurium U288 is associated with altered pathogenicity and reduced zoonotic potential 23 Apr 2021 In: Communications biology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02013-4
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Serovar-dependent differences in Hfq-regulated phenotypes in actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae 23 Oct 2020 In: Pathogens and disease, vol. 78
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/ftaa066
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Evaluation of glycosylated FlpA and SodB as subunit vaccines against campylobacter jejuni colonisation in chickens 11 Sep 2020 In: Vaccines, vol. 8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030520
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Ecological niche adaptation of a bacterial pathogen associated with reduced zoonotic potential 9 Sep 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.09.288845
Research output: › Working paper (Published)
Microbial Stimulation Reverses the Age-Related Decline in M Cells in Aged Mice (19 pages) 26 Jun 2020 In: iScience, vol. 23, pp. 1-19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101147
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Microbial Stimulation Reverses the Age-Related Decline in M Cells in Aged Mice 18 Feb 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.17.943514
Research output: › Working paper (Published)
Nature and consequences of interactions between Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin and host cells in cattle 27 Nov 2019 In: Veterinary Research, pp. 99
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13567-019-0720-5
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)
Antigen sampling CSF1R-expressing epithelial cells are the functional equivalents of mammalian M cells in the avian follicle-associated epithelium 22 Oct 2019 In: Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.02495
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)

View all 19 publications on Research Explorer

This article was published on 5 Jun, 2023