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Hire Dr. Melinda A.

Australia

USD 80 /hr

Freelance researcher in Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics | Scientific writer and editor | Biotech consultant

Profile Summary

Computational Microbiologist | Microbial genomics and bioinformatics scientist. I am an expert in comparative genomics, phylogenomics, and outbreak and transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, with a focus on antimicrobial resistance and virulence in bacterial pathogens. I have extensive genomic data analysis/bioinformatics skills using HPCs, R and Python. I am an excellent scientific writer and editor, have several publications and routinely peer review for journals including Microbial Genomics, mSystems and Microbiology Spectrum.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Microbiology
• ★ Genomics
• ★ Bioinformatics
• ☆ Computational Biology
• ☆ Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
• ☆ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ☆ Data Analysis
• ☆ Infectious Disease
• ☆ Research
• ☆ Technical & Scientific Writing

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Data & AI

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing, Copywriting, General Proofreading & Editing

Research Market Research, Gap Analysis, Gray Literature Search, Systematic Literature Review, Secondary Data Collection

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics

Work Experience

Postdoctoral Research Officer (Bioinformatics)

University of Melbourne

October 2019 - February 2022

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The University of Queensland

February 2019 - September 2019

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences)

The University of Queensland

May 2014 - February 2019

Master of Biotechnology (School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences)

The University of Queensland

March 2011 - December 2013

Bachelor of Applied Science (Biotechnology/Biochemistry) (Science)

Queensland University of Technology

March 2002 - December 2004

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Melinda Ashcroft, Eric P F Chow, Lenka A Vodstrcil, Deborah A Williamson, Kate Maddaford, Jane S Hocking, Vesna De Petra, Catriona S Bradshaw, Christopher K Fairley(2021). Incidence and duration of incident oropharyngeal gonorrhoea and chlamydia infections among men who have sex with men: prospective cohort study . Sexually Transmitted Infections. 97. (6). p. 452--457. {BMJ}

Darren Y. J. Lee, Melinda M. Ashcroft, Eric P. F. Chow, Michelle Sait, Vesna De Petra, Marlene Tschaepe, Sigrid Lange, George Taiaroa, Catriona S. Bradshaw, David M. Whiley, et al. (2021). Reflex Detection of Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Use of the SpeeDx ResistancePlus GC Assay . Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Chhabra Y, Yong HXL, Fane ME, Soogrim A, Lim W, Mahiuddin DN, Kim RSQ, Ashcroft M, Beatson SA, Ainger SA, et al.(2018). Genetic variation in IRF4 expression modulates growth characteristics, tyrosinase expression and interferon-gamma response in melanocytic cells . Pigment cell & melanoma research.

Ben Zakour NL, Alsheikh-Hussain AS, Ashcroft MM, Khanh Nhu NT, Roberts LW, Stanton-Cook M, Schembri MA, Beatson SA(2016). Erratum for Ben Zakour et al., Sequential Acquisition of Virulence and Fluoroquinolone Resistance Has Shaped the Evolution of Escherichia coli ST131 . mBio.

Ben Zakour NL, Alsheikh-Hussain AS, Ashcroft MM, Khanh Nhu NT, Roberts LW, Stanton-Cook M, Schembri MA, Beatson SA(2016). Sequential Acquisition of Virulence and Fluoroquinolone Resistance Has Shaped the Evolution of Escherichia coli ST131 . mBio.

Forde BM, Phan MD, Gawthorne JA, Ashcroft MM, Stanton-Cook M, Sarkar S, Peters KM, Chan KG, Chong TM, Yin WF, et al.(2015). Lineage-Specific Methyltransferases Define the Methylome of the Globally Disseminated Escherichia coli ST131 Clone . mBio.

OTHER

Rhys T. White, Matthew J. Bull, Clare R. Barker, Julie M. Arnott, Mandy Wootton, Lim S. Jones, Robin A. Howe, Mari Morgan, Melinda M. Ashcroft, Brian M. Forde, et al.(2021). Genomic epidemiology reveals geographical clustering of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli sequence type (ST)131 associated with bacteraemia in Wales, United Kingdom . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Melinda M. Ashcroft, Eric P. F. Chow, Darren Y.J. Lee, Vesna De Petra, Maree Soumilas, Marlene Tschaepe, Lei Zhang, Danielle J. Ingle, George Taiaroa, Allison L. Hicks, et al.(2020). Genomic assessment of within-host population variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Implications for gonorrhoea transmission . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Melinda M. Ashcroft, Brian M. Forde, Minh-Duy Phan, Kate M. Peters, Leah W. Roberts, Kok-Gan Chan, Teik Min Chong, Wai-Fong Yin, David L. Paterson, Timothy R. Walsh, et al.(2020). Strain and lineage-level methylome heterogeneity in the multi-drug resistant pathogenic Escherichia coli ST101 clone . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Melinda M. Ashcroft, Brian M. Forde, Minh-Duy Phan, Kate M. Peters, Andrew Henderson, Steven J. Hancock, Leah W. Roberts, Rhys T. White, Kok-Gan Chan, Teik Min Chong, et al.(2019). Genomic characterisation and context of the blaNDM-1 carbapenemase in Escherichia coli ST101 . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

PREPRINT

(2020). Targeted surveillance strategies for efficient detection of novel antibiotic resistance variants . bioRxiv.

Melinda M Ashcroft and Brian M Forde and Minh-Duy Phan and Kate M Peters and Andrew M Henderson and Steven J Hancock and Leah W Roberts and Kok-Gan Chan and Teik Min Chong and Wai-Fong Yin and David L Paterson and Timothy R Walsh and Mark A Schembri and Scott A Beatson(2019). Genomic characterisation and context of the blaNDM-1 carbapenemase in Escherichia coli ST101 . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

DISSERTATION THESIS

Melinda Ashcroft (2019). Evolution and function of mobile genetic elements and DNA methyltransferases in extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli .