Rate My Professor Sam Taylor-Wardell

Dr. Sam Taylor-Wardell is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Pletzer Lab within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences Division at the University of Otago. He joined the laboratory in May 2021, supported by a New Zealand Lottery Grants Board Post-Doctoral Fellowship, to study the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogen adaptation to antibiotic tolerance. Taylor-Wardell's research integrates molecular biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and computational analysis. His expertise in bioinformatics has been instrumental in supporting multiple student projects within the lab. He has also contributed to departmental research seminars and colloquia.

Taylor-Wardell completed his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Otago in December 2021 under the supervision of Professor Iain Lamont, with his thesis examining the evolution of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This work earned him the Exceptional PhD Thesis Award 2021. Earlier, he served as an Academic Research Fellow in the Lamont Lab. His publication record highlights contributions to understanding bacterial resistance mechanisms. Key papers include: "Ceftazidime resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is multigenic and complex" (PLoS One, 2023, with Ramsay et al.); "Gene-Gene Interactions Dictate Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa" (Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2021, with Rehman et al.); "A large chromosomal inversion affects antimicrobial resistance gene acquisition in Pseudomonas aeruginosa" (Microbiology, 2022, with Le et al.); and "DJK-5, an anti-biofilm peptide, increases Staphylococcus aureus killing by colistin in co-biofilm conditions" (npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 2025). He has co-authored on experimental evolution studies and serves as advisor on graduate theses. Taylor-Wardell has received a Marsden Fund grant, participated as co-investigator in OMRF annual grants and MBIE-funded projects, and contributed to research on bacterial adaptation selected for outer space experimentation.