Matthew J Sullivan Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2019

Matthew J Sullivan

Senior Lecturer at The University of Western Australia Dr Matt Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Western Australia (UWA) and a Research Group Leader at the Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases. His research programme focuses on bacterial metal resistance, gene regulation, and their roles in virulence and pathogenesis. He currently leads an internationally connected research team investigating how Group B Streptococcus adapts to and exploits host metal environments during infection. Matt received his BSc (Hons) in Microbiology in 2007 and his PhD in Molecular Microbiology in 2012 from the University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, UK. He undertook postdoctoral training at UEA and at Griffith University (Queensland), building expertise across environmental, marine, and pathogenic microbiology. In 2022, he established his independent laboratory at UEA with support from the Academy of Medical Sciences’ prestigious Springboard Award and the Royal Society, marking a key step in his transition to independent research leadership. He currently holds competitive funding from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Australian NHMRC through international and national collaborations. Matt’s research is grounded in bacterial genetics and metabolism and is characterised by a strong cross disciplinary approach. He has made influential contributions to understanding dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) catabolism in marine bacteria, copper dependent regulation of denitrification in soil bacteria, and regulatory cross talk controlling metal resistance in bacterial pathogens. His current work focuses on defining the metabolic and regulatory pathways that enable Group B Streptococcus to survive metal intoxication and establish infection. These studies form a central pillar of ongoing research in his laboratories at the Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases at UWA and his adjunct laboratory at UEA.