Clare Taylor
Clare Taylor

Dr Clare Taylor

Senior Lecturer

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology in the School of Applied Sciences. I am an active academic citizen supporting colleagues to embed inclusive practice in microbiology and life sciences.

Main areas of focus:

*Equality, diversity and inclusion in life sciences and higher education*
As an inclusive practitioner I work with a range of colleagues and external organisations to understand and reduce inequalities and barriers to inclusion, with a particular focus on microbiology and life sciences as well as higher education.

*Promoting evidence-based policy making*
I have worked with several organisations to improve the understanding of science for the benefit of policy makers.

*Public engagement with research*
I am passionate about engaging people with research in microbiology especially on topics related to public health including vaccination and antibiotic resistance. I have performed on these topics at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and have taken part in a range of different activities to diverse audiences.

*Microbiology*
Previous work has focused on understanding host-pathogen interactions of the intracellular bacteria Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes, with a view to developing novel microbial diagnostic tools and designing novel approaches to antimicrobial therapy.

Themes

News

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Appointed Board Member and Trustee of Scottish Policy & Research Exchange (SPRE)
  • Invited expert - Roundtable on Inequity in the STEM workforce: Could an Employers’ Coalition for STEM Diversity drive systemic change in the sector?
  • Invited expert - All Party Parliamentary Group roundtable - How does UK Government advance and inhibit equity and inclusive cultures within the STEM workforce?
  • Invited expert - Roundtable for UK R&D Roadmap - R&D People and Culture Strategy
  • Invited member of Advisory Board of UKRI Future Leader Fellowships Development Network
  • Invited contributor - Scottish stakeholder roundtable with UKRI CEO Dame Ottoline Leyser
  • Invited member of Challenge Panel for BEIS/UKRI Review of Research Bureacracy
  • Invited expert - All Party Parliamentary Group roundtable - Equity in STEM education - where now?
  • Invited expert - BAME Roundtable for First Minister's Advisory Council on Women & Girls
  • Invited expert - Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Roundtable on UK-Canada Microbiome research
  • Member Royal Society of Biology Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Invited Member of Organising Committee FEMS Congress 2023
  • Invited panel member - Race Equity Networks. Panel session at EDIS Symposium 2021
  • Invited member Organising Committee World Microbiology Forum 2021 (Joint virtual meeting of Federation of European Microbiology Societies and American Society for Microbiology
  • Invited Chair - SfAM workshop: Poster lightning talks at FEMS Congress 2019
  • Invited chair - STEM in Africa panel session at FEMS Congress 2019
  • Member of Organising Committee FEMS Congress 2021
  • Invited chair - LGBT+ in STEM panel session at FEMS Congress 2019
  • Invited Chair - Symposium: Exploiting bacteria for biomedical applications at FEMS Congress 2019
  • Member of Programme Committee - FEMS Congress 2019
  • Conference Organizer - Applications of Plant Pathology: From Field to Clinic
  • Invited Meeting Chair - Antimicrobial Resistance: Novel Therapeutics and Drug Discovery, London, UK

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editor (Medical Microbiology) for All Life journal
  • Editorial Board Member Fine Focus Journal
  • Features Editor Microbiologist magazine

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Examiner, Undergraduate Microbiology, University of Bradford

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Beltane Public Engagement Fellowship
  • Fellow – Higher Education Academy
  • Scottish Crucible Fellowship

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • Society for Applied Microbiology Grants Panel
  • British Council Researcher Links/Newton Fund

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Invited grant reviewer NERC
  • Invited grant reviewer MRC
  • Invited grant reviewer BBSRC
  • Invited grant reviewer - Wellcome Trust

 

Invited Speaker

  • Chair & speaker - What you need to know about science policy at SfAM, Webinar
  • Preparing a paper presenting results of multidisciplinary research - Webinar for All Life journal. Sponsored by the School of Public Health of Nanjing Medical University, China
  • Exploiting intracellular bacteria for medical biotechnology at FEMS Congress 2019
  • From Roots to Routes: Disrupting the Status-Quo at Engage 2019 Public Engagement Conference
  • Invited Panel Member - Too much evidence or not enough? Evidence week, UK parliament
  • Invited Panel Member - Intersectionality in STEM, Equate Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
  • Invited speaker - The Antimicrobial Crisis: #AlternativeFact or #ActualFact, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  • The Dorothy Jones Memorial Lecture: The Jekyll & Hyde Paradigm: an update on Listeria monocytogenes
  • Women! Science is not for You! Café Scientifique, St Andrews
  • Invited speaker - New Lecturer Research Award Lecture, Dublin, Ireland

 

Media Activity

  • COVID-19 commentary for BBC News (TV and radio)
  • TV appearance: STV Edinburgh: Edinburgh Festival 2015 - Women! Science is Still Not for You!
  • News media commentator for various media outlets and Science Media Centre
  • TV appearance: STV Scotland Tonight discussing Sir Tim Hunt & sexism in science
  • TV appearance & consultancy for BBC4 After Life: The Strange Science of Decay

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member EDIS (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in Science & Health) Coalition
  • Elected member of RSE Young Academy of Scotland
  • Chair, Policy Sub-committee (SfAM)
  • General Secretary Society for Applied Microbiology
  • Council member - Federation of European Microbiology Societies
  • Executive Committee member and Trustee Society for Applied Microbiology

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Cell Block Science at HMP Shotts
  • Chair - Q&A with Dame Sally Davies
  • Writer & performer - You can keep your chickens, Mr Trump - Skeptics at Edinburgh International Science Festival
  • Writer & performer - Women! Science is not for You! at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Writer & performer - Anti-vaxxers are anti-social, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Writer & performer - The Antibiotic Apocalypse Threatens Us All! Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Co-ordinator and creator of Fun Palace Wester Hailes , WHALE Arts
  • The Ticking Time Bomb of Antimicrobial Resistance: What can we do and where should we go next? Exhibition at Royal Society of Edinburgh.
  • Performer - Bright Club, The Stand Comedy Club
  • Workshop delivery - 'Doing Publics', Beltane Annual Gathering, Edinburgh
  • Performer Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Women! Science is Still Not for You!
  • Performer - Bright Club for Explorathon 2015, The Stand Comedy Club
  • Performer Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Women! Science is Not for You!
  • Winner - I'm a Scientist, Get me Out of Here! Live!
  • I Love Microbes - interactive exhibition at British Science Festival

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External examiner - PhD (University of Manchester
  • External examiner - PhD (University of Manchester)
  • External Examiner - PhD (University of Manchester)

 

Reviewing

  • Peer Reviewer of manuscripts for Journals: Microbiology; FEMS Microbiology Letters; Nanotoxicology; BMC Microbiology; British Journal of Pharmacology

 

Date


20 results

Teaching microbiology during the global pandemic

Digital Artefact
Taylor, C. (2021)
Teaching microbiology during the global pandemic. [Magazine]

Sources and survival of Listeria monocytogenes on fresh, leafy produce

Journal Article
on fresh, leafy produce. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 125(4), 930-942. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14025

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on fresh, leafy produce. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 125(4), 930-942. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14025
Listeria monocytogenes in an intracellular human pathogen which enters the body through contaminated food stuffs and is known to contaminate fresh leafy produce such as spinac...

Listeria monocytogenes

Book
Rees, C., Doyle, L., & Taylor, C. (2017)
Listeria monocytogenes. In Foodborne Diseases, 253-276. (3rd). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-385007-2.00012-7
Listeria monocytogenes was first described in 1923. Before 1982, L. monocytogenes was recognized as a cause of abortions and encephalitis in many animals (particularly cattle ...

To avoid antibiotic apocalypse, we need to diagnose infections faster

Other
Taylor, C. (2016)
To avoid antibiotic apocalypse, we need to diagnose infections faster. https://theconversation.com/to-avoid-antibiotic-apocalypse-we-need-to-diagnose-infections-faster-64758
Taylor, C. (2016). To avoid antibiotic apocalypse, we need to diagnose infections faster. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/to-avoid-antibiotic-apocalypse-we-need-...

Non-contact injury incidence and warm-up observation in hockey in Scotland

Presentation / Conference
Johnston, T., Brown, S., Kaliarntas, K. & Taylor, C. (2016, August)
Non-contact injury incidence and warm-up observation in hockey in Scotland. Poster presented at International Sports Science + Sports Medicine Conference 2016, Newcastle University
Noncontact injuries occur during manoeuvres such as landing, accelerating and the side-cut. This investigation has assessed the prevalence and manoeuvres associated with nonco...

‘Kill switches’ could make genetically modified food more palatable

Other
Taylor, C. (2015)
‘Kill switches’ could make genetically modified food more palatable. https://theconversation.com/kill-switches-could-make-genetically-modified-food-more-palatable-51941
Taylor, C. (2015). ‘Kill switches’ could make genetically modified food more palatable. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/kill-switches-could-make-genetically-modi...

Why we’ll all learn to love genetically modified Salmonella in the end

Other
Taylor, C. (2015)
Why we’ll all learn to love genetically modified Salmonella in the end. https://theconversation.com/why-well-all-learn-to-love-genetically-modified-salmonella-in-the-end-45850
Taylor, C. (2015). Why we’ll all learn to love genetically modified Salmonella in the end. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-well-all-learn-to-love-genetically...

Women in science: visible and vocal

Other
Taylor, C. (2013)
Women in science: visible and vocal

Driving Forward a Programme Based Approach - A Skills Passport Project

Presentation / Conference
Klawitter, P., Proudfoot, L., Mackinnon, J., Briers, R., Taylor, C., & Campbell Casey, S. (2013, June)
Driving Forward a Programme Based Approach - A Skills Passport Project. Poster presented at Edinburgh Napier University Staff Conference, Edinburgh

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry: Bridging the valley of death: improving the commercialisation of research

Report
Society for Applied Microbiology, . (2013)
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry: Bridging the valley of death: improving the commercialisation of research. London: House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
Contributor to written evidence, as a co-author of the evidence submitted by Society for Applied Microbiology (Ev w63-w68).

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Co-supervisor of PhD with GlaxoSmithKline and Heriot Watt University