Professor Darren Smith

Professor Smith’s research interests relate to how bacteriophages alter bacterial physiology, phenotype and bacterial community structure through chromosomal integration, subversion of cell function, or during active infection and cell lysis.  His group uses lab, multi-omic and bioinformatics based approaches to determine the physiological impact of lysogeny or lytic infection on the host bacterium and the surrounding microbiota in clinical and environmental settings.  His groups research aims are to offer an insight into the modulation of microbial communities and how phages play a role in bacterial/community selection and evolution.

All research is heavily linked to genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics and linked to a range of techniques including; molecular, protein, bioinformatics, microbiological and virological based techniques to study; virus-host interactions; phage genomics; identification of phage encoded genes that provide positive selection for the infected bacterial host and seasonal epidemiology versus virus genotype. 

Professor Smith is the academic lead and director for the DNA sequencing research facility at Northumbria University, NU-OMICS. This is an outfacing service that is linked to both academic and industrially linked DNA sequencing projects.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny, Hunt, M., Hinrichs, A., Anderson, D., Karim, L., Dearlove, B., Knaggs, J., Constantinides, B., Fowler, P., Rodger, G., Street, T., Lumley, S., Webster, H., Sanderson, T., Ruis, C., de Maio, N., Amenga-Etego, L., Amuzu, D., Avaro, M., Awandare, G., Ayivor-Djanie, R., Bashton, M., Batty, E., Bediako, Y., De Belder, D., Benedetti, E., Bergthaler, A., Boers, S., Campos, J., Carr, R., Cuba, F., Dattero, M., Dejnirattisai, W., Dilthey, A., Duedu, K., Endler, L., Engelmann, I., Francisco, N., Fuchs, J., Gnimpieba, E., Groc, S., Gyamfi, J., Heemskerk, D., Houwaart, T., Hsiao, N., Huska, M., Hölzer, M., Iranzadeh, A., Jarva, H., Jeewandara, C., Jolly, B., Joseph, R., Kant, R., Ki, K., Kurkela, S., Lappalainen, M., Lataretu, M., Liu, C., Malavige, G., Mashe, T., Mongkolsapaya, J., Montes, B., Mora, J., Morang’a, C., Mvula, B., Nagarajan, N., Nelson, A., Ngoi, J., da Paixão, J., Panning, M., Poklepovich, T., Quashie, P., Ranasinghe, D., Russo, M., San, J., Sanderson, N., Scaria, V., Screaton, G., Sironen, T., Sisay, A., Smith, D., Smura, T., Supasa, P., Suphavilai, C., Swann, J., Tegally, H., Tegomoh, B., Vapalahti, O., Walker, A., Wilkinson, R., Williamson, C., de Oliveira, T., Peto, T., Crook, D., Corbett-Detig, R., Iqbal, Z. 30 Apr 2024
• Building a future for phage-based technologies – a thought leadership approach to accelerating progress in the UK, Hodges, F., Smith, D. 23 Aug 2024, In: Sustainable Microbiology
• Controlling bacterial growth and inactivation using thin film-based surface acoustic waves, Ong, H., Jiang, Y., Guo, Y., Zhou, J., Zhang, J., Luo, J., Tao, R., Zhang, M., Dover, L., Smith, D., Thummavichai, K., Mishra, Y., Wu, Q., Fu, Y. 21 Sep 2024, In: Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology
• COVID-19 risk mitigation in reopening mass cultural events: population-based observational study for the UK Events Research Programme in Liverpool City Region, Burnside, G., Cheyne, C., Leeming, G., Humann, M., Darby, A., Green, M., Crozier, A., Maskell, S., O'Halloran, K., Musi, E., Carmi, E., Khan, N., Fisher, D., Corcoran, R., Dunning, J., Edmunds, W., Tharmaratnam, K., Hughes, D., Malki-Epshtein, L., Cook, M., Roberts, B., Gallagher, E., Howell, K., Chand, M., Kemp, R., Boulter, M., Fowler, T., Semple, M., Coffey, E., Ashton, M., García-Fiñana, M., Buchan, I., Bashton, M., Smith, D., Nelson, A., Young, G. 1 Jan 2024, In: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
• Influence of maternal folate depletion on Art3 DNA methylation in the murine adult brain: potential consequences for brain and neurocognitive health, Kok, D., Saunders, R., Nelson, A., Smith, D., Ford, D., Mathers, J., McKay, J. 1 May 2024, In: Mutagenesis
• Lineage frequency time series reveal elevated levels of genetic drift in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in England, Yu, Q., Ascensao, J., Okada, T., Boyd, O., Volz, E., Hallatschek, O., Bashton, M., Smith, D., Nelson, A., McCann, C. 15 Apr 2024, In: PLoS Pathogens
• Prevalence of persistent SARS-CoV-2 in a large community surveillance study, Ghafari, M., Hall, M., Golubchik, T., Ayoubkhani, D., House, T., MacIntyre-Cockett, G., Fryer, H., Thomson, L., Nurtay, A., Kemp, S., Ferretti, L., Buck, D., Green, A., Trebes, A., Lonie, L., Piazza, P., Studley, R., Rourke, E., Smith, D., Bashton, M., Nelson, A., Crown, M., McCann, C., Young, G., Santos, R., Richards, Z., Tariq, M., Cahuantzi, R., Barrett, J., Fraser, C., Bonsall, D., Walker, A., Lythgoe, K. 29 Feb 2024, In: Nature
• Profiling the Enterobacterales community isolated from retail foods in England, Harding-Crooks, R., Jones, A., Smith, D., Fanning, S., Fox, E. 2 Oct 2024, In: Journal of Food Protection
• Spatial and temporal epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 virus lineages in Teesside, UK, in 2020: effects of socio-economic deprivation, weather, and lockdown on lineage dynamics, Moss, E., Rushton, S., Baker, P., Bashton, M., Crown, M., Dos Santos, R., Nelson, A., O’Brien, S., Richards, Z., Sanderson, R., Yew, W., Young, G., McCann, C., Smith, D. 4 Sep 2024, In: Peer Community Journal
• Structure and rational engineering of the PglX methyltransferase and specificity factor for BREX phage defence, Went, S., Picton, D., Morgan, R., Nelson, A., Brady, A., Mariano, G., Dryden, D., Smith, D., Wenner, N., Hinton, J., Blower, T. 22 Aug 2024, In: Nature Communications

• Onengiye Ogbanga Forensic Applications of the Microbiome for Post-mortem Interval Estimations and Human Profiling Start Date: 30/06/2022
• Mariklairi Kiourkou Characterising the role and evolution of temperate bacteriophages in chronic respiratory infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients using their first isolate. Start Date: 01/10/2022
• Liberty Duignan The Temperate Bacteriophages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Their Role in Chronic Lung Infection Start Date: 01/10/2016 End Date: 21/01/2022
• Rui Nunes Dos Santos Isolation and classification of bacteriophages purified from maternal breast milk and determination of their role in bacterial community development. Start Date: 01/10/2022
• Saif Abraham Proposal for research into the role of bacteriophages in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in chronic respiratory disease Start Date: 01/10/2020 End Date: 23/06/2021
• Jennifer Le-Anne Coulson Longitudinal carriage of temperate phages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their role in the chronically infected non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis lungs. Start Date: 01/10/2022
• Mohammad Tariq Characterising Temperate Bacteriophages Isolated from the Microbiota of Chronic Respiratory Disease Start Date: 01/10/2012 End Date: 20/04/2017
• Francesca Everest Characterising the Role and Evolution of Temperate Bacteriophages in Chronic Respiratory Infections Including Cystic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis Start Date: 01/10/2012 End Date: 03/10/2016
• Giles Holt Characterising the impact on bacterial physiology of phage infection and phage as a tool to support microbiota studies Start Date: 01/11/2013 End Date: 07/03/2019

• Microbiology PhD June 30 2005
• Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2014
• Information not provided Society for General Microbiology (SGM) 2011

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• NU-OMICS, Northumbria University DNA Sequencing Research Facility