Kate works within the Malaria Parasite Surveillance Team in the Genomic Surveillance Unit. The team generates and curates genomic public health data on the parasites that cause malaria. We also develop new scientific and bioinformatic techniques that expand our ability to track genetic changes in these dangerous parasites.
Kate coordinates work and supports the activities of the team. She works closely with laboratory scientists to establish their requirements to develop new products, processes and pipelines that can be implemented at WSI and in malaria endemic countries to aid genomic surveillance of plasmodium parasites. She identifies, engages and works with partners and collaborators to source and organise clinical samples from overseas for R&D development and provides comprehensive support and detailed documentation to facilitate this. She acts as a point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, fostering strong relationships with partners and colleagues to ensure all requirements are met for work within the team.
Previous to this role, Kate was based in the Milton Keynes Lighthouse Lab and was the operational link between the UKs largest Covid testing lab and the Institute for sequencing the virus. She focused on addressing the daily operational and logistical challenges and developing new processes and protocols for automated consolidation of positive Covid samples which were then sent to Sanger for sequencing with minimal turn-around time.
Before 2020, Kate worked with MalariaGEN in the Oxford University Laboratories based at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics. She managed, maintained and worked on a Human DNA collection of over 200,000 human samples from around the world to gain a greater understanding of malaria with the aim of improving malaria control.