Dr Claudia Stocks

Research Fellow
Biofilm Biology cluster, SCELSE

Email: claudia.stocks@ntu.edu.sg

Dr Claudia Stocks joined SCELSE under the supervision of Prof. Kimberly Kline and A/Prof Christine Wong in the Biofilms cluster. Claudia is fascinated by persistent microorganisms and the ways they interact with and subvert our immune system. Her research into host-pathogen interactions began with an Honours project in the laboratory of Prof. Ruiting Lan, University of New South Wales (2013) focussed on the development of a new diagnostic test to identify infection with emerging strains of Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough). Following this Claudia undertook a collaborative PhD project across the laboratories of Prof. Matthew Sweet (Institute for Molecular Bioscience) and Prof. Mark Schembri (School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences) at the University of Queensland (2015-2019) . This project examined the innate immune antimicrobial pathway of zinc toxicity, and its role in defence against Uropathogenic E. coli. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a brief postdoctoral stint examining macrophage responses to SARS-CoV-2 with new lab head Dr Larisa Labzin with the support of Prof Kate Schroder (also Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland) (2020). Claudia currently investigates the interactions between biofilm associated bacterial pathogen, Enterococcus faecalis, and key innate immune cell the neutrophil (2021 – ) . It is hoped that better understanding of these complex host-pathogen interactions will lead to better treatments for chronic disease.