Rate My Professor Martha Clokie

Professor Martha Clokie holds the position of Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences at the University of Leicester. She is also the Director of the Becky Mayer Centre for Phage Research, the first dedicated phage research centre in the UK. Over the past two decades, Professor Clokie has led pioneering research into bacteriophages—naturally occurring viruses that infect and kill bacteria—as therapeutic agents against antibiotic-resistant infections. Her investigations span the isolation, genomic characterization, and application of phages targeting key pathogens such as Clostridium difficile, Salmonella species in poultry and animals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing urinary tract infections, respiratory pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and those associated with Lyme disease. Employing advanced techniques including next-generation sequencing, structural biology, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and phage formulation, her group develops phage cocktails for clinical and agricultural use. Collaborations with industry partners, such as Enbiotix, have advanced phage sets effective against C. difficile toward therapeutic development. She heads a research team focused on translating fundamental phage biology into practical antimicrobials for human and animal health.