Rate My Professor Rebecca Abraham

Rebecca Abraham serves as Lecturer in Microbiology within the School of Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences at Murdoch University. She is associated with the Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Diseases Laboratory in the Harry Butler Institute and contributes to the Centre for Biosecurity and One Health. Abraham earned her PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2018. Her doctoral thesis, titled 'Repurposing of Robenidine and Characterization of Novel Ribosomally Synthesized and Post-translationally Modified Peptides as Alternatives to Antibiotics in Livestock Production,' was supervised by Dr. Ryan O'Handley and Professor Darren Trott. Her research centers on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance, genomic analysis of resistant pathogens, and innovative strategies to combat bacterial infections in production animals and aquaculture.

Abraham's academic interests encompass the epidemiology of AMR in commensal and pathogenic bacteria from livestock, poultry, wildlife, and environmental sources, with a focus on One Health implications for public health and agriculture. She has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including 'A national study confirms that Escherichia coli from Australian commercial broiler chicken flocks has low antimicrobial resistance' (PLOS ONE, 2023), 'Robotic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Platform (RASP): a next generation genomic-informed antimicrobial resistance surveillance platform' (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2021), 'Carriage of critically important antimicrobial resistant bacteria by flying foxes (Pteropus species) in Australia' (Scientific Reports, 2018), 'Augmented surveillance of antimicrobial resistance with high-throughput genomic analysis of retail meats' (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2023), 'Antimicrobial resistance in coagulase-positive staphylococci from Australian pigs' (PLOS ONE, 2017), and 'Application of bacteriophages to control bacterial infections of prawns' (Veterinary Microbiology, 2026). Her work has advanced national AMR monitoring programs, confirmed low resistance prevalence in key Australian meat production sectors, and developed automated platforms for efficient susceptibility testing. Abraham has contributed to over 50 research outputs, amassing more than 950 citations, underscoring her impact in veterinary microbiology and biosecurity research.