Rate My Professor Bart Eijkelkamp

Associate Professor Bart Eijkelkamp is a faculty member in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Medical Microbiology at Saxion Hogeschool Enschede in 2005, a Master of Science in Biomolecular Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2007, and a PhD in Molecular Microbiology at Flinders University in 2012. His doctoral research examined antimicrobial resistance and virulence features of the bacterial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.

Following his PhD, Eijkelkamp undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Adelaide’s Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, where he investigated resistance and virulence in major bacterial pathogens with emphasis on metal ions and host lipids. He received a Beacon Research Fellowship at the University of Adelaide, enabling him to establish his independent research group. In 2019, he returned to Flinders University as a Research Academic in Microbiology and later advanced to Associate Professor. He leads the Eijkelkamp Laboratory, which studies how host nutritional status, particularly fatty acids and metal ions, influences bacterial pathogens during infection. Research focuses on membrane biosynthesis, transport systems for fatty acids and metal ions, and the pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii. Eijkelkamp holds teaching responsibilities in microbiology, infectious diseases, molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, and immunology, and serves as topic coordinator for several undergraduate and honours courses. He has received multiple research grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, and other bodies, along with awards including the Amplify Activity Award from the Australian Academy of Science and early career researcher recognitions from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Society for Microbiology.