​Francesca Miselli is currently working in Italy as a doctoral student under the guidance of Professor Alberto Berardi, a renowned expert in the field of neonatal infections, including Group B strep infections. Their presentation provides insights into the latest advancements and strategies in managing newborns at risk of Early-Onset Sepsis.

Dr Dorota Jamrozy works at the Sanger Institute, and she is the project manager for the Juno study. Her background is in bacterial genomics and application of whole genome sequencing to study pathogen evolution.

We developed a mouse model of GBS and C. albicans co-colonization and noted that the presence of C. albicans is associated with greater GBS burden in the neonatal intestinal tract. We sought to determine the mechanism(s) responsible for this increase in burden using invitro co-culture and co-infection of human intestinal epithelial cell lines. Our findings demonstrate that the presence of C. albicans is associated with upregulation of genes important for GBS colonization, adhesion and translocation in the intestinal epithelium.

Dr Carey has been working in the field of GBS research for over 12 yrs, with expertise in host-pathogen interactions and vaccine development. During this time, she developed one of the first animal models of vaginal GBS colonization. Her current research interests are understanding the interactions in the vagina that occur between host (mother) and GBS.