Prof Ross J Fitzgerald

Group Leader

Ross Fitzgerald is currently Director of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases and Professor of Molecular Bacteriology at Edinburgh Infectious Diseases and The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. After completing a PhD in Trinity College, Dublin with Cyril Smyth on the population genetics of the major human and veterinary pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, he carried out post-doctoral studies on S. aureus evolutionary genomics in the NIH, USA with Jim Musser, and on the role of surface proteins in S. aureus pathogenesis with Tim Foster in Dublin. He was appointed to a lectureship at the University of Edinburgh in 2004 and established the Laboratory for Bacterial Evolution and Pathogenesis (LBEP) which investigates the biology of clinically important species of staphylococci. In particular, his group is currently using high throughput sequencing as a platform for tracing S. aureus evolution and investigating the molecular basis of S. aureus pathogenesis of humans and animals. He is using similar approaches to investigate the genome biology and epidemiology of Legionnaires diseases. A major goal is the translation of fundamental discoveries into novel approaches to controlling infectious disease. Ross lives in Peebles, in the Scottish borders and is married with 2 energetic boys.

More information about Edinburgh Infectious Diseases can be found here.