Kerrie Davies

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds as a Visiting Research Fellow in 2015.

I completed by BSc in Medical Microbiology at the Univeristy of Leeds in 1998, followed by an MSc in medical and Molecular Microbiology from the University of Manchester in 2007. I am currently studying for a PhD in Clostridium difficile laboratory diagnosis at the University of Leeds. In addtion I completed a PG Dip in Healthcare Research in 2004. I have been a researcher at Leeds Teaching Hospitals since 1998, and began my Clinical Scientist training in 2004 becoming state registered in 2007, moving to Principal Clinical Scientist in 2016. 

Responsibilities

• Prinicipal Clinical Scientist for the Healthcare Associated Infections Research Group
• Scienitific lead COMBACTE-CDI, EUCLID, EUCLID 2, ORCHID, LUCID

Research interests

I am the Principal Clinical Scientist for the Healthcare Associated Infections Research group, a multi-organisational group consisting of members of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Leeds and Public Health England.

I was the lead scientist for the Centre of Evaluations and Purchasing (part of UK NHS) study to compare all Clostridium difficile toxin detection methods and the UK Department of Health funded multi-centre study to determine the optimal methods for CDI diagnosis. This study changed the UK C. difficile laboratory diagnostic guidelines, and has gone on to influence both the European (ESCMID) and US (SHEA) guidelines.

I continue to study CDI diagnosis, and am continually evaluating new and developing methods. In addition, I lead and coordinate several pan-European surveillance studies of CDI for the University of Leeds. I was the European and UK coordinator for the multi-national EUCLID study (EUropean, multi-centre, prospective bi-annual point prevalence study of CLostridium difficile infection in hospitalised patients with Diarrhoea). I then went on to be the lead scientist and Euorpean coordinator for both the Longitudinal European Clostridium difficile Infection Diagnosis Surveillance Study (LuCID) and the ORCHID study (Observational study of Risk factors for CDI in Hospitalised patients with Infective Diarrhoea).

Currently I am a co-investigator and the scientific lead for work-packages 1 and 2 of COMBACTE-CDI, an Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) Horizon2020 funded project to determine the burden of CDI across the whole of the healthcare economy in Europe. 

Recently I have also expanded my portfolio of studies to include comparative diagnostics for other healtcare associated infections.

Qualifications

• 2012-present PhD Factors affecting C. difficile diagnostic assays
• MSc Medical and Molecular Microbiology
• P.G.Dip Health Research
• B.Sc. Hons Medical Microbiology

Professional memberships

• Healthcare Professions Council (HCPC)
• Association of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (Microbiology branch) (ACB)
• European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID)
• American Society of Micobiology (ASM)

Student education

I currently provide teaching support for the FBS Microbiology course

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's
• Infection and antimicrobial resistance
• Healthcare Associated Infection Research Group