Associate Professor
Makrina Totsika
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences
Biography
Dr Makrina Totsika is currently a Principal Research Fellow at QUT. Originally from Volos, Greece, Makrina moved to Scotland in 1998 to study at the University of Edinburgh, where she graduated with a First Class BSc(Hons) in Biological Sciences-Genetics (2002), a MSc by Reseach in Life Sciences with Distinction (2003) and a PhD in Bacterial Genetics (2007). Makrina was the recipient of a prestigious Wellcome Trust 4-Year PhD studentship for her research project on virulence gene regulation in pathogenic bacteria that she conducted at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, University of Edinburgh. Makrina immigrated to Australia in 2007 as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Queensland. In May 2014, she joined QUT as an ARC DECRA fellow and in 2016 was awarded a QUT Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellowship. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018 and in the same year received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research, Partnerships and Engagement. Makrina has authored >80 scientific articles, reviews and editorials and has been awarded >$4M in research grants and fellowships from the ARC, NHMRC and philanthropic foundations. Her work is at the forefront of anti-virulence drug research and development, which is promising to revolutionise the way we treat bacterial infections that are no longer treatable with antibiotics. Makrina is a frequent science communicator and winner of the 2016 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year award by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS). In 2016 she also received the Queensland Health and Medical Research Award for the Senior Researcher Category by the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR). She is an elected Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology which has recognised her with the 2018 Frank Fenner Award for her distinguished contributions to Australian research in Microbiology. In 2020, she was one of six recipients of the Georgina Sweet Award for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences, with special recognition for Inclusivity.
Personal details
Positions
- Principal Research Fellow
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences- Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI),
IHBI Health Projects - Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Keywords
bacterial pathogenesis, adhesins, biofilms, virulence, urinary tract infections, intestinal infections, E. coli, Salmonella, antimicrobial resistance, antivirulence therapeutics
Discipline
Medical Microbiology, Microbiology, Genetics
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Edinburgh)
Professional memberships and associations
Teaching
Infectious Diseases Capstone unit - LQB694
WILS, VRES, Honours, Masters, MPhil and PhD program
Experience
Research Supervisor for the QUT STEM for High Schools Research Internships Program since 2015
Wonder of Science, QLD State Conference 2019 - Brisbane, 'Speed Meet the Scientist’
Regional World Science Festival 2018 - Toowoomba, ‘BUGS & DRUGS: The Resistance Wars’
Regional World Science Festival 2017 - Chinchilla, ‘Amazing Microbes’
Public Lecture, National Science Week 2014 'When antibiotics stop working, the bugs fight back'
QLD Finalist, Fresh Science 2012 'Meet the next deadly E. coli superbug'
Selected publications
- Verderosa A, Dhouib R, Fairfull-Smith K, Totsika M, (2020) Nitroxide functionalized antibiotics are promising eradication agents against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 64 (1), pp. 1-13.
- Totsika M, Vagenas D, Paxman J, Wang G, Dhouib R, Sharma P, Martin J, Scanlon M, Heras B, (2018) Inhibition of diverse DsbA enzymes in multi-DsbA encoding pathogens, Antioxidants and Redox Signaling, 29 (7), pp. 1-14.
- Ruter R, Schuller S, Lyras D, Schembri M, Totsika M, Sarkar S, Hutton M, Vagenas D, (2018) Intestinal colonization traits of pandemic multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 218 (6), pp. 979-990.
- Totsika M, (2016) Benefits and challenges of antivirulence antimicrobials at the dawn of the post-antibiotic era, Drug Delivery Letters, 6 (1), pp. 30-37.
- Petty N, Ben Zakour N, Stanton-Cook M, Skippington E, Totsika M, Forde B, Phan M, Gomes Moriel D, Peters K, Davies M, Rogers B, Dougan G, Rodriguez-Bano J, Pascual A, Pitout J, Upton M, Paterson D, Walsh T, Schembri M, Beatson S, (2014) Global dissemination of a multidrug resistant Escherichia coli clone, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (15), pp. 5694-5699.
- Heras B, Totsika M, Peters K, Paxman J, Gee C, Jarrott R, Perugini M, Whitten A, Schembri M, (2014) The antigen 43 structure reveals a molecular Velcro-like mechanism of autotransporter-mediated bacterial clumping, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (1), pp. 457-462.
- Totsika M, Kostakioti M, Hannan T, Upton M, Beatson S, Janetka J, Hultgren S, Schembri M, (2013) A FimH inhibitor prevents acute bladder infection and treats chronic cystitis caused by multidrug-resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli ST131, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 208 (6), pp. 921-928.
- Totsika M, Wells T, Beloin C, Valle J, Allsopp L, King N, Ghigo J, (2012) Molecular characterization of the EhaG and UpaG trimeric autotransporter proteins from pathogenic Escherichia coli, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78 (7), pp. 2179-2189.
- Totsika M, Beatson S, Sarkar S, Phan M, Petty N, Bachmann N, Szubert M, Sidjabat H, Paterson D, Upton M, Schembri M, (2011) Insights into a multidrug resistant Escherichia coli pathogen of the globally disseminated ST131 lineage: genome analysis and virulence mechanisms, PLoS One, 6 (10), pp. 1-11.
- Heras B, Shouldice S, Totsika M, Scanlon M, Schembri M, Martin J, (2009) DSB proteins and bacterial pathogenicity, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 7 (3), pp. 215-225.
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Makrina, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Georgina Sweet Women in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences Award, including Excellence in Inclusivity
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Frank Fenner Award
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Winner of the Senior Researcher Category Health and Medical Research Award
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Queensland Young Tall Poppy of the Year, Young Tall Poppy Science Awards
- Type
- Recipient of an Australia Council Grant or Australia Council Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2013
- Details
- ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
Selected research projects
- Title
- Molecular Mechanisms of Novel Bacterial Copper Defense Proteins
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP190101613
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- DsbA Foldases from Multidrug Resistant Pathogens as Targets for New Antimicrobials
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1144046
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Infection; Virulence; Enzyme Inhibitors; Enzyme Activity; Antimicrobial Therapy
- Title
- DsbA Inhibitors: From Hits to Leads
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1099151
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- The current multidrug resistant Escherichia coli pandemic: exploring novel therapies against the predominant culprit E. coli ST131.
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1069370
- Start year
- 2014
- Keywords
- Escherichia Coli; Adhesins; Virulence; Urinary Tract Infection (UTI); Multidrug Resistance; Fimbriae; Infectious Diseases
- Title
- Understanding how bacteria become sticky
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE130101169
- Start year
- 2013
- Keywords
- Bacterial Adhesins; Disulfide Bond Proteins; Periplasmic Chaperones
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Characterising Regions of Genomic Variation in 'Critical Priority' Multidrug Resistant Bacterial Pathogens
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Johanna Kenyon, Dr Yaoqin Hong - INVESTIGATING BACTERIAL PERSISTENCE IN URINARY TRACT INFECTION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPEUTICS
PhD, Principal Supervisor - Investigating the Repertoire of DSBA Enzymes in Klebsiella Pneumoniae
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Anthony Verderosa
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Reducing Infections with Percutaneous Drivelines for Mechanical Circulatory Support Using a Tissue Engineering Inspired Approach (2020)
- Nitroxide Functionalised Antibiotics for the Eradication of Bacterial Biofilms (2019)
- Oral Microbiome: A Novel Biomarker for Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer Detection and a Potential Surveillance Tool for Post-treatment Monitoring (2019)
- Characterisation of flagella and resistance to oxidative stress in Escherichia coli ST131 virulence (2017)
- Uropathogenic Escherichia coli: Towards a Better Understanding through the Characterisation of a Vaccine Antigen and Virulence Factor (2016)
- Evolutionary Phylogeny and Molecular Characterisation of Chaperone-Usher Fimbriae from Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (2014)
- Identification and Characterisation of New Adhesins in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (2011)