My research interests lie in using sequence data to study bacterial pathogens, both from a point of view of managing infections (molecular epidemiology) but also in terms of understanding fundamental evolutionary dynamics. The early part of my research career was spent generating and interpreting multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data for numerous species. I developed the BURST algorithm to help visualise these datasets (J Bacteriol. 186(5):1518-30). More recently, I have focussed on whole genome sequence (WGS) data, and was joint lead author on the first demonstration of WGS data for molecular epidemiology (Science 327: 5964 469-474). I am currently a PI on a large CRCUK project, headed by Prof Sharon Peacock, looking at implementing this technology into routine epidemiological surveillance, and was previously a work package leader on the FP7 Project TROCAR, headed by Prof Jordi Villa, which aimed to characterise and manage high risk antibiotic resistant clones in Europe

Feil, E., Bayliss, S., senghore, M., Kwambana-Adams, B., Foster-Nyarko, E., Menneh, J., Dione, M., Badji, H., Ebruke, C., Doughty, E., Thorpe, H. A. F. W., Jasinska, A., Schmitt, C., Cramer, J., Turner, T., Weinstock, G., Freimer, N., Pallen, M. and Antonio, M., 2016. Forthcoming. Whole-genome sequencing reveals anthroponotic transmission of Staphylococcus aureus to African Green monkeys in The Gambia:Human to monkeys Staphylococcus aureus transmission. Applied and Environmental Microbiology Numminen, E., Gutmann, M., Shubin, M., Marttinen, P., Méric, G., van Schaik, W., Coque, T. M., Baquero, F., Willems, R. J. L., Sheppard, S. K., Feil, E. J., Hanage, W. P. and Corander, J., 2016. The impact of host metapopulation structure on the population genetics of colonizing bacteria. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 396, pp. 53-62. Feil, E., Aanensen, D. M., Holden, M. T. G., Dordel, J., Castillo-Ramirez, S., Parkhill, J., Bentley, S. D., Spratt, B. G. and Grundmann, H., 2016. Whole-genome sequencing for routine pathogen surveillance in Public Health:a population snapshot of invasive staphylococcus aureus in Europe. mBio, 7 (3), e00444-16. Gebhard, S. and Feil, E., 2016. ‘Resistance-proof’ antibiotics may never exist – but there are some promising alternatives. [Non-academic press] Chang, H. H., Dordel, J., Donker, T., Worby, C. J., Feil, E. J., Hanage, W. P., Bentley, S. D., Huang, S. S. and Lipsitch, M., 2016. Identifying the effect of patient sharing on between-hospital genetic differentiation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Genome Medicine, 8 (18). Reuter, S., Estee Torok, M., Holden, M. T. G., Reynolds, R., Raven, K. E., Blane, B., Donker, T., Bentley, S. D., Aanensen, D. M., Grundmann, H., Feil, E. J., Spratt, B. G., Parkhill, J. and Peacock, S. J., 2016. Building a genomic framework for prospective MRSA surveillance in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Genome Research, 26 (2), pp. 263-270. Mechai, S., Margos, G., Feil, E. J., Barairo, N., Lindsay, L. R., Michel, P. and Ogden, N. H., 2016. Evidence for host-genotype associations of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. PLoS ONE, 11 (2), e0149345. Senn, L., Clerc, O., Zanetti, G., Basset, P., Prod'hom, G., Gordon, N., Sheppard, A., Crook, D., James, R., Thorpe, H. A. F. W., Feil, E. and Blanc, D., 2016. The stealthy superbug:the role of asymptomatic enteric carriage in maintaining a long-term hospital outbreak of ST228 methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. mBio, 7 (1), e02039-15. Feil, E. J., 2015. Toward a synthesis of genotypic typing and phenotypic inference in the genomics era. Future Microbiology, 10 (12), pp. 1897-1899. Ogden, N. H., Feil, E. J., Leighton, P. A., Lindsay, L. R., Margos, G., Mechai, S., Michel, P. and Moriarty, T. J., 2015. Evolutionary aspects of emerging lyme disease in Canada. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 81 (21), pp. 7350-7359. Tovar-Corona, J. M., Castillo-Morales, A., Chen, L., Olds, B. P., Clark, J. M., Reynolds, S. E., Pittendrigh, B. R., Feil, E. J. and Urrutia, A. O., 2015. Alternative splice in alternative lice. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32 (10), pp. 2749-2759. Laabei, M., Uhlemann, A. C., Lowy, F. D., Austin, E. D., Yokoyama, M., Ouadi, K., Feil, E., Thorpe, H. A., Williams, B. G., Perkins, M., Peacock, S. J., Clarke, S. R., Dordel, J., Holden, M., Votintseva, A. A., Bowden, R., Crook, D. W., Young, B. C., Wilson, D. J., Recker, M. and Massey, R. C., 2015. Evolutionary trade-offs underlie the multi-faceted virulence of staphylococcus aureus. PLoS Biology, 13 (9), e1002229. Méric, G., Miragaia, M., De Been, M., Yahara, K., Pascoe, B., Mageiros, L., Mikhail, J., Harris, L. G., Wilkinson, T. S., Rolo, J., Lamble, S., Bray, J. E., Jolley, K. A., Hanage, W. P., Bowden, R., Maiden, M. C. J., Mack, D., De Lencastre, H., Feil, E. J., Corander, J. and Sheppard, S. K., 2015. Ecological overlap and horizontal gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Genome Biology and Evolution, 7 (5), pp. 1313-1328. Mechai, S., Margos, G., Feil, E. J., Lindsay, L. R. and Ogden, N. H., 2015. Complex population structure of Borrelia burgdorferi in southeastern and south central Canada as revealed by phylogeographic analysis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 81 (4), pp. 1309-1318. Budge, G. E., Shirley, M. D. F., Jones, B., Quill, E., Tomkies, V., Feil, E. J., Brown, M. A. and Haynes, E. G., 2014. Molecular epidemiology and population structure of the honey bee brood pathogen Melissococcus plutonius. ISME Journal, 8, pp. 1588-1597. Laabei, M., Recker, M., Rudkin, J. K., Aldeljawi, M., Gulay, Z., Sloan, T. J., Williams, P., Endres, J. L., Bayles, K. W., Fey, P. D., Yajjala, V. K., Widhelm, T., Hawkins, E., Lewis, K., Parfett, S., Scowen, L., Peacock, S. J., Holden, M., Wilson, D., Read, T. D., Van Den Elsen, J., Priest, N. K., Feil, E. J., Hurst, L. D., Josefsson, E. and Massey, R. C., 2014. Predicting the virulence of MRSA from its genome sequence. Genome Research, 24 (5), pp. 839-849. Brynildsrud, O., Feil, E. J., Bohlin, J., Castillo-Ramirez, S., Colquhoun, D., McCarthy, U., Matejusova, I. M., Rhodes, L. D., Wiens, G. D. and Verner-Jeffreys, D. W., 2014. Microevolution of Renibacterium salmoninarum:evidence for intercontinental dissemination associated with fish movements. ISME Journal, 8, pp. 746-756. Dinnis, R. E., Seelig, F., Bormane, A., Donaghy, M., Vollmer, S. A., Feil, E. J., Kurtenbach, K. and Margos, G., 2014. Multilocus sequence typing using mitochondrial genes (mtMLST) reveals geographic population structure of Ixodes ricinus ticks. Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, 5 (2), pp. 152-160. Vanbergen, A. J., Baude, M., Biesmeijer, J. C., Britton, N. F., Brown, M. J. F., Bryden, J., Budge, G. E., Bull, J. C., Carvell, C., Challinor, A. J., Connolly, C. N., Evans, D. J., Feil, E. J., Garratt, M. P., Greco, M. K., Heard, M. S., Jansen, V. A. A., Keeling, M. J., Kunin, W. E., Marris, G. C., Memmott, J., Murray, J. T., Nicolson, S. W., Osborne, J. L., Paxton, R. J., Pirk, C. W. W., Polce, C., Potts, S. G., Priest, N. K., Raine, N. E., Roberts, S., Ryabov, E. V., Shafir, S., Shirley, M. D. F., Simpson, S. J., Stevenson, P. C., Stone, G. N., Termansen, M. and Wright, G. A., 2013. Threats to an ecosystem service:Pressures on pollinators. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 11 (5), pp. 251-259. Shepheard, M.A., Fleming, V.M., Connor, T.R., Corander, J., Feil, E.J., Fraser, C. and Hanage, W.P., 2013. Historical zoonoses and other changes in host tropism of Staphylococcus aureus, identified by phylogenetic analysis of a population dataset. PLoS ONE, 8 (5), 62369.