Dr Harisree Paramel Nair

Harisree is a molecular microbiologist with interest in environmental microbes and zoonotic pathogens. Her previous research focuses on culture-based and culture-independent analyses of microbial communities in marine and mangrove ecosystems and in mud volcanic sediments. Harisree’s current research focuses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in wild birds and the environment.

View Harisree’s profile on ResearchGate

Background

Harisree obtained her PhD from Cochin University of Science and Technology (India) in 2016 for her research investigating the metagenome of marine and mangrove sediments, particularly focusing on phylogenetic diversity and characterisation of amylase obtained by functional screening. During her doctoral research, she also worked as a junior and senior research fellow in a Govt. of India funded research project to study the metagenome of marine sediments. Later, she joined the Indian Institute of Science as a postdoctoral fellow until 2018.

She joined Anglia Ruskin University in 2019 and started working alongside Joana Rodrigues and under the guidance of Dr Caray A Walker. Their research group is focused on researching the prevalence of enteric pathogens in wild birds and investigating potential antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and virulence factors. The Walker group works in collaboration with a number of wildlife trusts and rescue centres across England in order to complete their research. We are always actively looking for new collaborators in these areas.

Spoken Languages

English and Malayalam

Research interests

• Environmental Microbiology
• Metagenomics
• Antimicrobial Resistance
• Zoonotic pathogens
• Bacterial virulence mechanisms
• Marine microbes

Teaching

BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science

Contributes to General Microbiology

Contributes to Principles of Genetics

Contributes to Microbial Pathogenicity

Qualifications

• PhD in Molecular Microbiology under the Faculty of Science, Department of Biotechnology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India
• MSc in Biotechnology, St. Berchmans College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India
• BSc in Biological Techniques, Union Christian College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

Memberships, editorial boards

Member of the Microbiology Society

Member of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC)

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

Research grants:

• 2020-2021: Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to undertake a research project under the supervision of Dr Caray Walker investigating multidrug resistant bacteria in the South East, London and East of England regions (GBP £53,000)
• Jan 2020-May 2020: School of Life Sciences QR-funded short project entitled “Prevalence of multidrug resistance Enterobacteriaceae in wild birds in the South East, London and East of England Regions” (GBP £17,977)
• 2017-2019: Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to undergo research in Indian Institute of Science for her project on mud volcano sediments by Kerala Biotechnology Commission, Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, Govt. of Kerala, India (INR 9,44,800/-)

Summer studentships:

• 2020: Co-supervisor on Research, Innovation and Development Office Undergraduate Summer Research Grant for Khadidja Hamze – In silico prediction of antimicrobial properties of putative bacteriocin produced by Bacillus spp. – £2000 (stipend)
• 2020: Co-supervisor on Research, Innovation and Development Office Undergraduate Summer Research Grant for Helena Virag – Surveillance of extended Spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing Escherichia coli in faecal samples from Racehorses – £2000 (stipend)

Selected recent publications

• Nair, H.P. and Bhat, S,G., 2020. Arabian Sea metagenome derived - α-amylase P109 and its potential applications. Ecological Genetics and Genomics, (In Press)

• Nair, H.P. and Bhat, S.G., 2020. Metagenomic data on bacterial diversity profiling of Arabian sea sediment by amplicon sequencing. Data in Brief, 28, p.104791.

• Nair, H.P., Vincent, H., Puthusseri, R. and Bhat, S.G., 2017. Molecular cloning and characterization of a halotolerant α-amylase from marine metagenomic library derived from Arabian Sea sediments. 3 Biotech, 7(1).

• Nair, H P., Puthusseri, R.M., Vincent, H. and Bhat, S.G., 2017. 16S rDNA-based bacterial diversity analysis of Arabian Sea sediments: A metagenomic approach. Ecological Genetics and Genomics, 3-5, pp.47-51.

• Nair, H.P., Vincent, H. and Bhat, S.G., 2014. Evaluation of five in situ lysis protocols for PCR amenable metagenomic DNA from mangrove soils. Biotechnology Reports, 4, pp.134-138.

• Joseph, A., Sasidharan, R., Nair, H.P. and Bhat, S., 2013. Occurrence of potential pathogenic Aeromonas species in tropical seafood, aquafarms and mangroves off Cochin coast in South India. Veterinary World, 6(6), p.3000.

Recent presentations and conferences

• Multidrug resistant Pseudomonas spp. isolated from bird faeces collected from recreational areas around the river Cam, in Cambridge - BSAC Antibiotic Resistance and Mechanisms Workshop for Researchers, Birmingham, 2019

• Multidrug resistance of uncommon Enterobacterales isolated from bird faeces - BSAC Antibiotic Resistance and Mechanisms Workshop for Researchers, Birmingham, 2019

• Analysis of microbial composition and diversity of the sediments of Arabian sea by paired-end illumina reads - International Conference on Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation of Marine Ecosystems, Hong Kong, 2015

• Fingerprinting of metagenomic clones using Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA) for assessment of bacterial diversity of Arabian Sea sediments - 102nd Indian Science Congress, India, 2015