A four-months scientific internship at the University of Bath

From March 6th to July 7th, a young scientist from UPWr, dr Sylwia Banaszkiewicz performed an internship at the Milner Centre of Evolution at the University of Bath, United Kingdom. She joined a world leading genomics and bioinformatics group led by professor Samuel Sheppard (https://sheppardlab.com/), renowned scientist working on microbial evolution.


During the stay, dr Banaszkiewicz was working on staphylococcal evolution. Employing various bioinformatical techniques, she was able to investigate the genetic basis of phenotype variation in staphylococci. In particular, how the genomes of antimicrobial resistant strains co-adapt to incorporate genes associated with pathogenicity. She learned how to prepare DNA libraries for whole-genome sequencing, perform next-generation sequencing and genome assembly. Furthermore, she gathered a ~1,500-isolate database of staphylococcal genomes, which will be used in further research intended to investigate probable horizontal gene transfer between staphylococcal species and strains from different animal hosts.

Additional to laboratory work, dr Banaszkiewicz spent some time sightseeing and visiting Bath’s historical places, as well as meeting various university employees from around the world.

The research on staphylococcal evolution is still ongoing. The internship was a great opportunity to develop a lasting collaboration with colleagues in England and engage in active knowledge transfer between our research institutions.