Dr Simon Harris

Senior Staff Scientist

Alumni

This person is a member of Sanger Institute Alumni.

Simon is a Senior Staff Scientist in the Pathogen Genomics Group. His research involves analysis of whole genome DNA sequence data to study the evolution and population dynamics of bacterial pathogens.

My current work is focussed on the genomics of pathogenic Neisseria and Mycobacteria, combining population genomics, epidemiology and phenotypic approaches to understand their evolution and transmission.

I am particularly interested in the ways bacteria adapt and thrive in the face of changing selective pressures such as moving between host species, transitioning between carriage and disease or in response to antimicrobial therapy. Improving our understanding of these processes of adaptation requires the application and development of innovative bioinformatic techniques to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the entire genomes of large bacterial populations.

During my time at the Institute I have worked on many innovative projects using genomic data to both reconstruct the historical spread of some of the most important causes of transmissible disease, and to illustrate the potential of whole genome sequencing in informing clinical practice in real-time.

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