Jessica Birt

Background

Jessica completed a BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester, and an MSc in Synthetic Biology at Newcastle University. She has previously worked in medical research in both the UK and the Gambia. She has competed in the iGEM competition twice – first with the Manchester 2013 team, producing non-native fatty acids in E. coli, and later as team captain of the Newcastle 2017 team, creating a multicellular platform for biosensor development.

Research

Jessica is currently using mammalian synthetic biology to design and implement in vivo sensors for diagnostics and drug testing.

Publications

Le Doare, K., Bellis, K., Faal, A., Birt, J. et al. (2017) SIgA, TGF-β1, IL-10, and TNFα in colostrum are associated with infant group B Streptococcus colonization. Frontiers in Immunology. 8: 1269

Le Doare, K., Faal, A., Jaiteh, M.,  Sarfo, F., Taylor, S., Warburton, F., Humphries, H., Birt, J., et al. (2017) Association between functional antibody against Group B Streptococcus and maternal and infant colonization in a Gambian cohort. Vaccine. 35(22): 2970-2978

Birt, J., Le Doare, K., Kortsalioudaki, C., Lawn, J. & Sharland, M. (2016) Lack of evidence for the efficacy of enhanced surveillance compared to other specific interventions to control neonatal healthcare-associated infection outbreaks. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 110: 98 – 106

Contact

Phone No: 0131 650 5416

Email: s1672446@ed.ac.uk