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4. Hilary Browne

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Biography

Hilary has a degree in Agricultural Science from University College Dublin and Masters in Biotechnology from University College Cork. Hilary joined the Wellcome Sanger Institute near Cambridge in the UK as a computational biologist before joining Trevor Lawley’s lab, (also at the Sanger Institute) as a research assistant. During this time, he completed his PhD supervised by Trevor Lawley and Brendan Wren based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and was also awarded the Garnham award from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for outstanding research student completing a doctoral thesis in the area of basic or laboratory science. Following his PhD, Hilary was promoted to Staff Scientist and then Senior Staff Scientist at the Sanger. In 2023 Hilary was awarded an ERC Starter Grant and commenced his current role as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Microbiology and APC Microbiome Ireland in 2024.

Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h3JT8HsAAAAJ&hl=en‍

Research Interests

Hilary’s team seek to characterise the ecology, evolution and functions of gut bacteria. A primary research focus is intestinal spore-forming bacteria. Spore-formation is prevalent in the human gut and provides a means for anaerobic bacteria to transmit effectively between hosts, ensuring their survival. Hilary’s team uses anaerobic microbiology, genomic and metagenomic approaches to understand the metabolic properties of spore-formers, the genetic architecture and evolution of spore-formation and the phenotypic triggers of sporulation and germination. Given their resistance properties, a deeper understanding of intestinal sporulation processes could also allow spores to be used to effectively deliver therapeutic anaerobic bacteria to the gut. 

Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	SYNergize: Understanding spore-forming gut bacteria biology to target pathogens	European Union	01-APR-24	31-MAR-29	€1,310,565.00
	SYNergize: Understanding spore-forming gut bacteria biology to target pathogens	European Union	01-APR-24	31-MAR-29	€188,938.00

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Publications

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	'Boosting microbiome science worldwide could save millions of children's lives' Browne HP;Iqbal NT;Osman M;Tigoi C;Lawley TD;Gordon JI;Ahmed T;Kariuki S; (2024) 'Boosting microbiome science worldwide could save millions of children's lives'. Nature, 625 (7994) [DOI] [Details]
	(2012)	'Antigenic diversity is generated by distinct evolutionary mechanisms in African trypanosome species' Jackson AP;Berry A;Aslett M;Allison HC;Burton P;Vavrova-Anderson J;Brown R;Browne H;Corton N;Hauser H;Gamble J;Gilderthorp R;Marcello L;McQuillan J;Otto TD;Quail MA;Sanders MJ;van Tonder A;Ginger ML;Field MC;Barry JD;Hertz-Fowler C;Berriman M; (2012) 'Antigenic diversity is generated by distinct evolutionary mechanisms in African trypanosome species'. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, 109 (9) [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Two microbiota subtypes identified in irritable bowel syndrome with distinct responses to the low FODMAP diet' Vervier K;Moss S;Kumar N;Adoum A;Barne M;Browne H;Kaser A;Kiely CJ;Neville BA;Powell N;Raine T;Stares MD;Zhu A;De La Revilla Negro J;Lawley TD;Parkes M; (2022) 'Two microbiota subtypes identified in irritable bowel syndrome with distinct responses to the low FODMAP diet'. Gut, 71 (9) [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Mother-infant transmission of human microbiota' Browne HP;Shao Y;Lawley TD; (2022) 'Mother-infant transmission of human microbiota'. Current Opinion In Microbiology, 69 [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'Strain-level characterization of broad host range mobile genetic elements transferring antibiotic resistance from the human microbiome' Forster SC;Liu J;Kumar N;Gulliver EL;Gould JA;Escobar-Zepeda A;Mkandawire T;Pike LJ;Shao Y;Stares MD;Browne HP;Neville BA;Lawley TD; (2022) 'Strain-level characterization of broad host range mobile genetic elements transferring antibiotic resistance from the human microbiome'. Nature Communications, 13 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) network nested case-cohort study protocol: a multi-omics approach to understanding mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia' Njunge JM;Tickell K;Diallo AH;Sayeem Bin Shahid ASM;Gazi MA;Saleem A;Kazi Z;Ali S;Tigoi C;Mupere E;Lancioni CL;Yoshioka E;Chisti MJ;Mburu M;Ngari M;Ngao N;Gichuki B;Omer E;Gumbi W;Singa B;Bandsma R;Ahmed T;Voskuijl W;Williams TN;Macharia A;Makale J;Mitchel A;Williams J;Gogain J;Janjic N;Mandal R;Wishart DS;Wu H;Xia L;Routledge M;Gong YY;Espinosa C;Aghaeepour N;Liu J;Houpt E;Lawley TD;Browne H;Shao Y;Rwigi D;Kariuki K;Kaburu T;Uhlig HH;Gartner L;Jones K;Koulman A;Walson J;Berkley J; (2022) 'The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) network nested case-cohort study protocol: a multi-omics approach to understanding mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia'. Gates Open Research, 6 [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'The Mouse Gastrointestinal Bacteria Catalogue enables translation between the mouse and human gut microbiotas via functional mapping' Beresford-Jones BS;Forster SC;Stares MD;Notley G;Viciani E;Browne HP;Boehmler DJ;Soderholm AT;Kumar N;Vervier K;Cross JR;Almeida A;Lawley TD;Pedicord VA; (2022) 'The Mouse Gastrointestinal Bacteria Catalogue enables translation between the mouse and human gut microbiotas via functional mapping'. Cell Host &Amp; Microbe, 30 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Citrobacter amalonaticus Inhibits the Growth of Citrobacter rodentium in the Gut Lumen' Mullineaux-Sanders C;Carson D;Hopkins EGD;Glegola-Madejska I;Escobar-Zepeda A;Browne HP;Lawley TD;Frankel G; (2021) 'Citrobacter amalonaticus Inhibits the Growth of Citrobacter rodentium in the Gut Lumen'. Mbio, 12 (5) [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Host adaptation in gut Firmicutes is associated with sporulation loss and altered transmission cycle' Browne HP;Almeida A;Kumar N;Vervier K;Adoum AT;Viciani E;Dawson NJR;Forster SC;Cormie C;Goulding D;Lawley TD; (2021) 'Host adaptation in gut Firmicutes is associated with sporulation loss and altered transmission cycle'. Genome Biology, 22 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'The recent emergence of a highly related virulent Clostridium difficile clade with unique characteristics' Shaw HA;Preston MD;Vendrik KEW;Cairns MD;Browne HP;Stabler RA;Crobach MJT;Corver J;Pituch H;Ingebretsen A;Pirmohamed M;Faulds-Pain A;Valiente E;Lawley TD;Fairweather NF;Kuijper EJ;Wren BW; (2020) 'The recent emergence of a highly related virulent Clostridium difficile clade with unique characteristics'. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 26 (4) [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Adaptation of host transmission cycle during Clostridium difficile speciation' Kumar N;Browne HP;Viciani E;Forster SC;Clare S;Harcourt K;Stares MD;Dougan G;Fairley DJ;Roberts P;Pirmohamed M;Clokie MRJ;Jensen MBF;Hargreaves KR;Ip M;Wieler LH;Seyboldt C;Norén T;Riley TV;Kuijper EJ;Wren BW;Lawley TD; (2019) 'Adaptation of host transmission cycle during Clostridium difficile speciation'. Nature Genetics, 51 (9) [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'A human gut bacterial genome and culture collection for improved metagenomic analyses' Forster SC;Kumar N;Anonye BO;Almeida A;Viciani E;Stares MD;Dunn M;Mkandawire TT;Zhu A;Shao Y;Pike LJ;Louie T;Browne HP;Mitchell AL;Neville BA;Finn RD;Lawley TD; (2019) 'A human gut bacterial genome and culture collection for improved metagenomic analyses'. Nature Biotechnology, 37 (2) [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Zoonotic Transfer of Clostridium difficile Harboring Antimicrobial Resistance between Farm Animals and Humans' Knetsch CW;Kumar N;Forster SC;Connor TR;Browne HP;Harmanus C;Sanders IM;Harris SR;Turner L;Morris T;Perry M;Miyajima F;Roberts P;Pirmohamed M;Songer JG;Weese JS;Indra A;Corver J;Rupnik M;Wren BW;Riley TV;Kuijper EJ;Lawley TD; (2018) 'Zoonotic Transfer of Clostridium difficile Harboring Antimicrobial Resistance between Farm Animals and Humans'. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 56 (3) [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Transmission of the gut microbiota: spreading of health' Browne HP;Neville BA;Forster SC;Lawley TD; (2017) 'Transmission of the gut microbiota: spreading of health'. Nature Reviews. Microbiology, 15 (9) [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Polysaccharide utilization loci and nutritional specialization in a dominant group of butyrate-producing human colonic Firmicutes' Sheridan, PO;Martin, JC;Lawley, TD;Browne, HP;Harris, HMB;Bernalier-Donadille, A;Duncan, SH;O'Toole, PW;Scott, KP;Flint, HJ (2016) 'Polysaccharide utilization loci and nutritional specialization in a dominant group of butyrate-producing human colonic Firmicutes'. Microbial Genomics, 2 [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Antibiotics, gut bugs and the young' Browne H; (2016) 'Antibiotics, gut bugs and the young'. Nature Reviews. Microbiology, 14 (6) [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Evaluation of PacBio sequencing for full-length bacterial 16S rRNA gene classification' Wagner J;Coupland P;Browne HP;Lawley TD;Francis SC;Parkhill J; (2016) 'Evaluation of PacBio sequencing for full-length bacterial 16S rRNA gene classification'. BMC Microbiology, 16 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Culturing of 'unculturable' human microbiota reveals novel taxa and extensive sporulation' Browne HP;Forster SC;Anonye BO;Kumar N;Neville BA;Stares MD;Goulding D;Lawley TD; (2016) 'Culturing of 'unculturable' human microbiota reveals novel taxa and extensive sporulation'. Nature, 533 (7604) [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'HPMCD: the database of human microbial communities from metagenomic datasets and microbial reference genomes' Forster SC;Browne HP;Kumar N;Hunt M;Denise H;Mitchell A;Finn RD;Lawley TD; (2016) 'HPMCD: the database of human microbial communities from metagenomic datasets and microbial reference genomes'. Nucleic acids research, 44 (D1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Complete genome sequence of BS49 and draft genome sequence of BS34A, Bacillus subtilis strains carrying Tn916' Browne HP;Anvar SY;Frank J;Lawley TD;Roberts AP;Smits WK; (2015) 'Complete genome sequence of BS49 and draft genome sequence of BS34A, Bacillus subtilis strains carrying Tn916'. Fems Microbiology Letters, 362 (3) [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Distinct Commensals Induce Interleukin-1ß via NLRP3 Inflammasome in Inflammatory Monocytes to Promote Intestinal Inflammation in Response to Injury' Seo SU;Kamada N;Muñoz-Planillo R;Kim YG;Kim D;Koizumi Y;Hasegawa M;Himpsl SD;Browne HP;Lawley TD;Mobley HL;Inohara N;Núñez G; (2015) 'Distinct Commensals Induce Interleukin-1ß via NLRP3 Inflammasome in Inflammatory Monocytes to Promote Intestinal Inflammation in Response to Injury'. Immunity, 42 (4) [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Clostridium sordellii genome analysis reveals plasmid localized toxin genes encoded within pathogenicity loci' Couchman EC;Browne HP;Dunn M;Lawley TD;Songer JG;Hall V;Petrovska L;Vidor C;Awad M;Lyras D;Fairweather NF; (2015) 'Clostridium sordellii genome analysis reveals plasmid localized toxin genes encoded within pathogenicity loci'. BMC Genomics, 16 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Complete genome sequence of the Clostridium difficile laboratory strain 630¿erm reveals differences from strain 630, including translocation of the mobile element CTn5' van Eijk E;Anvar SY;Browne HP;Leung WY;Frank J;Schmitz AM;Roberts AP;Smits WK; (2015) 'Complete genome sequence of the Clostridium difficile laboratory strain 630¿erm reveals differences from strain 630, including translocation of the mobile element CTn5'. BMC Genomics, 16 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'As Clear as Mud? Determining the Diversity and Prevalence of Prophages in the Draft Genomes of Estuarine Isolates of Clostridium difficile' Hargreaves KR;Otieno JR;Thanki A;Blades MJ;Millard AD;Browne HP;Lawley TD;Clokie MR; (2015) 'As Clear as Mud? Determining the Diversity and Prevalence of Prophages in the Draft Genomes of Estuarine Isolates of Clostridium difficile'. Genome Biology And Evolution, 7 (7) [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Epithelial IL-22RA1-mediated fucosylation promotes intestinal colonization resistance to an opportunistic pathogen' Pham TA;Clare S;Goulding D;Arasteh JM;Stares MD;Browne HP;Keane JA;Page AJ;Kumasaka N;Kane L;Mottram L;Harcourt K;Hale C;Arends MJ;Gaffney DJ; ;Dougan G;Lawley TD; (2014) 'Epithelial IL-22RA1-mediated fucosylation promotes intestinal colonization resistance to an opportunistic pathogen'. Cell Host &Amp; Microbe, 16 (4) [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Genomic analysis of the causative agents of coccidiosis in domestic chickens' Reid AJ;Blake DP;Ansari HR;Billington K;Browne HP;Bryant J;Dunn M;Hung SS;Kawahara F;Miranda-Saavedra D;Malas TB;Mourier T;Naghra H;Nair M;Otto TD;Rawlings ND;Rivailler P;Sanchez-Flores A;Sanders M;Subramaniam C;Tay YL;Woo Y;Wu X;Barrell B;Dear PH;Doerig C;Gruber A;Ivens AC;Parkinson J;Rajandream MA;Shirley MW;Wan KL;Berriman M;Tomley FM;Pain A; (2014) 'Genomic analysis of the causative agents of coccidiosis in domestic chickens'. Genome Research, 24 (10) [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Whole genome sequencing reveals potential spread of Clostridium difficile between humans and farm animals in the Netherlands, 2002 to 2011' Knetsch CW;Connor TR;Mutreja A;van Dorp SM;Sanders IM;Browne HP;Harris D;Lipman L;Keessen EC;Corver J;Kuijper EJ;Lawley TD; (2014) 'Whole genome sequencing reveals potential spread of Clostridium difficile between humans and farm animals in the Netherlands, 2002 to 2011'. Euro surveillance : bulletin europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 19 (45) [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Functional genomics reveals that Clostridium difficile Spo0A coordinates sporulation, virulence and metabolism' Pettit LJ;Browne HP;Yu L;Smits WK;Fagan RP;Barquist L;Martin MJ;Goulding D;Duncan SH;Flint HJ;Dougan G;Choudhary JS;Lawley TD; (2014) 'Functional genomics reveals that Clostridium difficile Spo0A coordinates sporulation, virulence and metabolism'. BMC Genomics, 15 [DOI] [Details]
	(2013)	'The agr locus regulates virulence and colonization genes in Clostridium difficile 027' Martin MJ;Clare S;Goulding D;Faulds-Pain A;Barquist L;Browne HP;Pettit L;Dougan G;Lawley TD;Wren BW; (2013) 'The agr locus regulates virulence and colonization genes in Clostridium difficile 027'. Journal of Bacteriology, 195 (16) [DOI] [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2019	Garnham Award for Garnham award from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for outstanding research student completing a doctoral thesis in the area of basic or laboratory science.	London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine