Dr Suzy Clare Moody

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Suzy Clare Moody
About
Teaching and learning
Research
Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact
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Videos of my work

About

I am a microbiologist with a focus on sustainability, applied microbiology and infection prevention. After reading my first degree in Microbiology at Cardiff University, I took a gap year culminating in working for Mother Theresa's nuns in Kolkata, India. I came back to train as a nurse at Bournemouth University. While working as a Critical Care nurse in Dorset, I studied with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to gain my MSc Infectious Disease. I spent the next few years fulfilling a lifelong ambition to work in both primary and secondary healthcare settings in developing countries. On my return to the UK, I studied for my PhD at Swansea University investigating novel anti-microbial compounds produced by Streptomyces. I stayed at Swansea University for two post-doctoral positions. The first project investigated the transcriptomics and proteomics of competing wood decay fungi, followed by a second project looking at metabolomics and stress responses in Burkholderia. I held my first academic position at Solent University, establishing my own research group investigating mycoremediation of plastic waste. I joined Kingston in January 2021 and continue to grow my research interests in enhancing sustainability of applied microbiology, specifically bioremediation of plastics, antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention nursing. I went back to nursing at the start of the pandemic and currently work part-time in Critical Care at Southampton General Hospital. 

I am currently General Secretary of Applied Microbiology International and I sit on the Council of the Royal Society of Biology. I am actively involved in the policy work of both societies and regularly contribute to policy documents and position statements, commenting on draft Government legislation and contributing to evidence for Select Committee enquiries. 

Academic responsibilities

Lecturer in Eukaryotic Microbiology

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the HEA
  • PhD Molecular Microbiology, Swansea University
  • MSc Infectious Disease, University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • PG Dip Clinical Nursing, Bournemouth University
  • BSc (Hons) Microbiology (first class), Cardiff University

Teaching and learning

Undergraduate courses taught

  • Biochemistry BSc (Hons)
  • Biological Sciences BSc (Hons)
  • Biomedical Science BSc (Hons)
  • Pharmacology BSc (Hons)

Postgraduate courses taught

  • Biomedical Science (Haematology/Medical Microbiology) MSc

My lab-based undergraduate project students, Charlotte Morse and Libby Hazelgrove, did an outstanding job on their projects this year. Libby has just been awarded the top bioscience project prize by the Royal Society of Biology - congratulations Libby! 

Research

My research interests span several areas of applied microbiology, from bioremediation of textiles, to infection prevention nursing, and I have some excellent students and research assistants working with me.

In the lab, we investigate how fungi can be utilised to meet real world challenges. We are looking at the proteomics and metabolomics of plastic degradation, aiming to develop microbial systems for the safe and sustainable disposal of semi-synthetic textiles. My research assistant Libby is funded by UKRI Circular Economy Hub to investigate whether we can grow mushrooms on textile waste. This is the link to the CE Hub website about the Old Pants Project: https://ce-hub.org/the-old-pants-project-2022/

My previous post-graduate student Rachel Harper has just had her ground-breaking work on textile bioremediation published in a top fungal biology journal - check it out here:  https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/6/661

In clinical practice, we look at infection prevention nursing and identify how this can be improved. My new PhD student Grace is looking at the role of Infection Prevention Link Champions in residential care in the UK. 

Research student supervision

Publications

Jump to: Article
Number of items: 11.

Article

Harper, Rachel and Moody, Suzy (2023) Filamentous fungi are potential bioremediation agents of semi-synthetic textile waste. Journal of Fungi, 9(6), p. 661. ISSN (online) 2309-608X

Cowan, Andrew, Skrede, Inger and Moody, Suzy Clare (2022) Cytochrome P450 complement may contribute to niche adaptation in 'Serpula' wood-decay fungi. Journal of Fungi, 8(3), p. 283. ISSN (online) 2309-608X

Cowan, A.R., Costanzo, C.M., Benham, R., Loveridge, E.J. and Moody, S.C. (2022) Fungal bioremediation of polyethylene : challenges and perspectives. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 132(1), pp. 78-89. ISSN (print) 1365-2672

Rawlings, Anna, O'Connor, Eoin, Moody, Suzy C., Dudley, Ed, Boddy, Lynne, Fowler, Mike S., Fitzpatrick, David A., Doyle, Sean and Eastwood, Dan C. (2022) Metabolic responses of two pioneer wood decay fungi to diurnally cycling temperature. Journal of Ecology, 110(1), pp. 68-79. ISSN (print) 0022-0477

Moody, S.C, Bull, J.C., Dudley, E. and Loveridge, E.J. (2019) The impact of combinatorial stress on the growth dynamics and metabolome of 'Burkholderia mesoacidophila' demonstrates the complexity of tolerance mechanisms. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 127(5), pp. 1521-1531. ISSN (print) 1364-5072

Balasundaram, S.V., Hess, J., Durling, M.B., Moody, S.C., Thorbek, L., Progida, C., LaButti, K., Aerts, A., Barry, K., Grigoriev, I.V., Boddy, L., Högberg, N., Kauserud, H., Eastwood, D.C. and Skrede, I. (2018) The fungus that came in from the cold : dry rot's pre-adapted ability to invade buildings. ISME Journal, 12(3), pp. 791-801. ISSN (print) 1751-7362

Moody, S.C., Dudley, E., Hiscox, J., Boddy, L. and Eastwood, D.C. (2018) Interdependence of primary metabolism and xenobiotic mitigation characterizes the proteome of 'Bjerkandera adusta' during wood decomposition. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 84(2), ISSN (print) 0099-2240

Loveridge, E. Joel, Jones, Cerith, Bull, Mathew J., Moody, Suzy C., Kahl, Małgorzata W., Khan, Zainab, Neilson, Louis, Tomeva, Marina, Adams, Sarah E., Wood, Andrew C., Rodriguez-Martin, Daniel, Pinel, Ingrid, Parkhill, Juilan, Mahenthiralingam, Eshwar and Crosby, John (2017) Reclassification of the specialized metabolite producer 'Pseudomonas mesoacidophila' ATCC 31433 as a member of the 'Burkholderia cepacia' complex. Journal of Bacteriology, 199(13), ISSN (print) 0021-9193

Moody, Suzy C. and Loveridge, E. Joel (2014) CYP105-diverse structures, functions and roles in an intriguing family of enzymes in 'Streptomyces'. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 117(6), pp. 1549-1563. ISSN (print) 1364-5072

Zhao, Bin, Moody, Suzy C., Hider, Robert C., Lei, Li, Kelly, Steven L., Waterman, Michael R. and Lamb, David C. (2012) Structural analysis of cytochrome P450 105N1 involved in the biosynthesis of the zincophore, coelibactin. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13(7), pp. 8500-8513. ISSN (print) 1661-6596

Moody, Suzy C., Zhao, Bin, Lei, Li, Nelson, David R., Mullins, Jonathan G. L., Waterman, Michael R., Kelly, Steven L. and Lamb, David C. (2012) Investigating conservation of the albaflavenone biosynthetic pathway and CYP170 bifunctionality in streptomycetes. FEBS Journal, 279(9), pp. 1640-1649. ISSN (print) 1742-464X

This list was generated on Sun Sep 24 07:42:54 2023 BST.

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

I was honoured to be asked to give the Charter Lecture for the Royal Society of Biology this year. The title was 'Celebrating diversity: the joy of being a zebra among horses'. The link is below if you want to watch it. I hope you enjoy it!

This account of clinical work during the pandemic and how that fits with my academic work went live on the Microbiology Society website in March: https://microbiologysociety.org/our-work/sars-cov-2-and-covid-19-hub/covid-19-response-case-studies.html 

My recent policy work includes:

  • Developing and leading SfAM response to the All Party Parliamentary Group call for evidence about Covid-19
  • Working with SfAM to campaign for protection of Early Career Researchers on temporary contracts impacted by lab closures
  • Contributing to the SfAM response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy UK Research and Development Survey – a key step towards making funding distribution more equitable in the UK and encouraging the government to fund innovative research for industrial application
  • Contributing to the All Party Parliamentary Group 'Inquiry into equity in the STEM workforce'
  • Contributing to the Royal Society of Biology response to the proposed Environmental Principles Statement produced by DEFRA which aims to promote prevention or reduction of pollution in new projects, and for the first time, highlights protection and enhancement of biodiversity as a key goal
  • Contributing to the Royal Society of Biology response to DEFRA's consultation on the new plant biosecurity strategy
  • All RSB policy responses can be found here: https://www.rsb.org.uk/policy/consultations/consultation-responses 
  • The SfAM policy pages can be found here: https://sfam.org.uk/knowledge/policy.html 

Videos of my work

I took this image and wrote the accompanying abstract during my PhD for the Research as Art competition at Swansea University. I think it sums up why I love research and how the microbial world inspires me.

'Scrutiny' - a Research as Art entry by Suzy Moody

Celebrating diversity: the joys of being a zebra among horses

Social media

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