Science Portrait: Dr. Siouxsie Wiles

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Dr. Siouxsie Wiles, Head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology, University of Auckland, New Zealand. (the photograph was kindly provided by Dr. Wiles and is part of a photograph made in 2020 by Elise Manahan)

This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Dr. Siouxsie Wiles, Head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

(large parts of the below text were provided to me by Dr. Wiles)

Dr Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is an award-winning scientist who has made a career manipulating microbes. Her day job is as an associate professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where she heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab. Siouxsie firmly believes that research doesn’t end with a peer-reviewed publication and has spent over a decade learning how to communicate and demystify science. She’s won numerous awards for her efforts, including the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize in 2013, and in 2019 was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication. When COVID-19 arrived, Siouxsie joined forces with cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable. Their award-winning graphics were translated into multiple languages and adapted by governments and organisations worldwide. Siouxsie was the Supreme Winner of the Stuff Westpac 2020 Women of Influence Award, named by the BBC as one of their 100 influential women of 2020, and in 2021 was named New Zealander of the Year.

Siouxsie is an expert in in vivo infection models and biophotonic imaging, a technique which allows the noninvasive determination of pathogen numbers and location within living organisms. She has published 82 peer-reviewed articles/book chapters/conference proceedings, some of which as first or last author in top-ranking journals like Nature Reviews Microbiology (Wiles et al. 2006), PLOS Biology (Wiles 2014), and Nature Communications (Senghore et al. 2023). Her total citation index is >4,500 (at Google Scholar). Her current research interests include antibiotic discovery and experimentally investigating the drivers of evolution for pathogenic bacteria.

There are beautiful sources of information about her online in relation to her research, like:

Not so beautiful, but evidence to her bravery to stand up for science, are various newspaper articles and documentaries highlighting how she had to deal with the type of vile/aggressive/ridiculous reactions that the world has come to get used to in COVID-19 “debates.” I will not provide links to those here, but I like to stress that she is a special person who is deserving of our admiration, and that it is an honor to receive her as our guest as a speaker at Fujita Health University.

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

1997       University of Edinburgh – BSc (Hons) First class, Medical Microbiology

2002       Napier University, Edinburgh – PhD, Microbiology

 

POSITIONS

2000-2007            Imperial College London – Post-doctoral Research Fellow

2007-2009            Imperial College London – Non-clinical Lecturer

2009-2015            Imperial College London – Honorary Lecturer

2009-2013            University of Auckland – Health Research Council of NZ Hercus Fellow

2014-2018            University of Auckland – Senior Lecturer

2018-present        University of Auckland – Associate Professor

 

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

2005 – 2009        UK NC3Rs Small Awards Grant Panel

2008 – 2009        Imperial College London Central Ethical Review Panel

2011 – 2018         University of Auckland Animal Ethics Committee

2014 – 2020         Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART)

2015 – 2021         Councilor, Royal Society Te Apārangi

2017 – 2018         NZ Ministry for the Environment’s Freshwater Task Force

2017 – 2020         NZ Ministry of Health’s Antimicrobial Resistance Task Force

2021                       NZ Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Panel on Infectious Diseases

2022 – present  One Health Aotearoa Management Board

 

SIGNIFICANT DISTINCTIONS / AWARDS

2006       Inaugural UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) 3Rs Prize

2009       Health Research Council of New Zealand Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship

2011       National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC) Three Rs award

2012       NZ Association of Scientists Science Communication Prize

2013      Prime Minister’s Prize for Science Media Communication

2013      Royal Society Te Apārangi Callaghan Medal

2014       Cam Reid orator, Australian & New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART)

2016       Blake Leader Award from the Sir Peter Blake Trust

2017       Finalist, Next Magazine Women of the Year (Health and Science category)

2018       Finalist, Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year

2019       Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication

2020       Supreme Winner, Stuff/Westpac Woman of Influence Award

2020       BBC’s 100 inspiring and influential women of 2020

2020       Designers Institute Public Good Award – Purple Pin (supreme award)

2021       Global Media Awards – Runner-up, Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign

2021      Universities New Zealand Critic and Conscience Award

2021      Voyager Media Awards – Best artwork/graphic for Toby Morris collaboration

2021       Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand (GFANZ) Fellow

2021       New Zealand Tertiary Education Union Excellence Award

2021       Rotary International – Paul Harris Fellow

2021       New Zealand Prime Minister’s Science Prize (as a member of Te Pūnaha Matatini’s COVID team)

2021       Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year

2022       Voyager Media Awards – Runner-up, Best artwork/graphic for Toby Morris collaboration

2023       Zonta Yellow Rose Award for advocacy for women in science

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (# open access)

  1. #Senghore M, Read HM, Oza P, Johnson S, Passarelli-Araujo H, Taylor BP, Ashley S, Grey A, Callendrello A, Lee R, Goddard MR, Lumley T, Hanage WP, Wiles S (2023). Nature Communications. 14 (1), 6397.
  2. #Bunce M, Geoghegan JL, Winter D, de Ligt J, Wiles S (2023). Exploring the depth and breadth of the genomics toolbox during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand. BMC Medicine. 21 (1), 1-8.
  3. #Wiles S, Morris M, Priestley R. Going viral: a science communication collaboration in the era of COVID-19 and social media (2023). Front. Comm. 8:1087120.
  4. #Sinclair O, Russell J, de Lore D, Andersen E, Percival T, Wiles S (2021). The urgent need for an equitable COVID-19 paediatric vaccine roll-out to protect tamariki Māori. NZ Med J 134(1547):8-15.
  5. #Grey ABJ, Cadelis MM, Diao Y, Park D, Lumley T, Weir BS, Copp BR, Wiles S (2021). Screening of fungi for antimycobacterial activity using a medium-throughput bioluminescence-based assay. Front Microbiol. 12:739995.
  6. Wiles S (2017). Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine? BWB Texts. ISBN 978-094-751-865-3.
  7. Dalton JP, Uy B, Okuda K, Hall CJ, Denny WA, Crosier PS, Swift S, Wiles S (2017). Screening of anti-mycobacterial compounds in a naturally infected zebrafish embryo model. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 72(2):421-427.
  8. Young SW, Roberts T, Johnson S, Dalton J, Coleman B, Wiles S (2015). Regional intraosseous delivery of prophylactic antibiotics effective in a murine model of total knee arthroplasty. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 473(11):3573-84. doi: 10.1007/s11999-015-4464-x.
  9. Wiles S (2015). Cam Reid Oration: How being nice to mice made my research career. Proceedings of the ANZCCART Conference held in Queenstown, New Zealand, 27 July – 29 July 2014. http://anzccart.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Mixing-it-up-ANZCCART-2014.pdf.
  10. Loh JM, Adenwalla N, Wiles S, Proft T (2013). Galleria mellonella larvae as an infection model for Group A streptococcus. Virulence. 4(5): 419-28. doi: 10.4161/viru.24930.
  11. Andreu N, Zelmer A, Sampson SL, Ikeh M, Bancroft GJ, Schaible UE, Wiles S, Robertson BD (2013). Rapid in vivo assessment of drug efficacy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis using an improved firefly luciferase. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 68(9):2118-27.
  12. Alam F, Bateman C, Turner CE, Wiles S, Sriskandan S (2013). Non-invasive monitoring of Streptococcus pyogenes vaccine efficacy using biophotonic imaging. PLOS One. 8(11): e82123.
  13. Andreu N, Zelmer A, Wiles S (2011). Non-invasive biophotonic imaging for studies of infectious disease. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 35(2):360-394. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2010.00252.x.
  14. Petty NK, Feltwell T, Pickard D, Clare S, Toribio AL, et al. (2011) Citrobacter rodentium is an unstable pathogen showing evidence of significant genomic flux. PLoS Pathogens 7(4): e1002018. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002018.
  15. Andreu N, Zelmer A, Fletcher T, Elkington PT, Ward TH, Ripoll J, Parish T, Bancroft GJ, Schaible UE, Robertson BD, Wiles S (2010). Optimisation of Bioluminescent Reporters for Use with Mycobacteria. PLoS One. 5(5): doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010777.
  16. Carroll P, Schreuder LJ, Muwanguzi-Karugaba J, Wiles S, Robertson BD, Ripoll J, Ward TH, Bancroft GJ, Schaible UE, Parish T (2010). Sensitive Detection of Gene Expression in Mycobacteria under Replicating and Non-Replicating Conditions Using Optimized Far-Red Reporters. PLoS One. 5(3): e9823. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009823.
  17. Turner CE, Kurupati P, Wiles S, Edwards RJ, Sriskandan S (2009). Impact of immunization against SpyCEP during invasive disease with two streptococcal species: Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus equi. Vaccine. 27:4923-4929.
  18. Dennis A, Kudo T, Kruidenier L, Girard F, Crepin VF, MacDonald TT, Frankel G, Wiles S (2008). The p50 subunit of NF-κB is critical for in vivo clearance of the non-invasive enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Infection and Immunity. 76:4978-4988.
  19. Yesudian PD, Berry JL, Wiles S, Hoyle S, Young DB, Haylett AK, Rhodes LE, Davies P (2008). The effect of ultraviolet B-induced vitamin D levels on host resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a pilot study in immigrant Asian adults living in the United Kingdom. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine. 24(2): 97-98. 10.1111/j.1600-0781.2008.00339.x.
  20. Hemrajani C, Marches O, Wiles S, Girard F, Dennis A, Dziva F, Best A, Phillips AD, Berger C, Mousnier A, Crepin VF, Kruidenier L, Woodward MJ, Stevens MP, La Ragione RM, MacDonald TT, Frankel G (2008). Role of NleH, a type III secreted effector from attaching and effacing pathogens, in colonization of the bovine, ovine and murine gut. Infection and Immunity. 76:4804-4813.
  21. Griesenbach U, Meng C, Farley R, Cheng SH, Scheule RK, Davies MH, Wolstenholme-Hogg PC, Ten Hove W, van der Hoeven P, Sinn PL, McCray PB Jr, Inoue M, Geddes DM, Hasagawa M, Frankel G, Wiles S, Alton EW (2008). In vivo imaging of gene transfer to the respiratory tract. Biomaterials 19:1533-1540.
  22. Bishop AL, Wiles S, Dougan G, Frankel G (2007). Cell attachment properties and infectivity of host-adapted and environmentally-adapted Citrobacter rodentium. Microbes & Infection. 9:1316-1324.
  23. Wiles S, Crepin V, Childs G, Frankel G, Kerton A (2007). Use of biophotonic imaging as a training aid for administration of substances in laboratory rodents. Imaging for training of common procedures. Laboratory Animals 41:321-328.
  24. Wiles S, Pickard KM, Peng K, Macdonald TT, Frankel G (2006). In vivo bioluminescence imaging of the murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Infection and Immunity 74:5391-5396.
  25. Wiles S, Hanage WP, Frankel G, Robertson BD (2006). Modeling infectious disease – time to think outside the box? Nature Reviews Microbiology 4:307-312.
  26. Kelly M, Hart E, Mundy R, Marches O, Wiles S, Badea L, Luck S, Tauschek M, Frankel G, Robins-Browne RM, Hartland EL (2006). Essential role of the type III secretion system effector NleB in colonization of mice by Citrobacter rodentium. Infection and Immunity 74:2328-2337.
  27. Marches O, Wiles S, Dziva F, La Ragione RM, Chong Y, Best A, Oswald E, Phillips AD, Hartland EL, Woodward MJ, Stevens MP, Frankel G (2005). Characterization of two non-LEE encoded type III effectors, NleC and NleD, in attaching and effacing pathogens. Infection and Immunity 73:8411-8417.
  28. Wiles S, Dougan G, Frankel G (2005). Emergence of a ‘hyperinfectious’ bacterial state after passage of Citrobacter rodentium through the host gastrointestinal tract. Cell Micro 7:1163-1172.
  29. Mundy R, MacDonald TT, Dougan G, Frankel G, Wiles S (2005). Citrobacter rodentium: of mice and man. Cell. Micro. 7:1697-1706.
  30. Wiles S, Ferguson K, Stefanidou M, Young DB, Robertson BD (2005). An alternative luciferase for monitoring bacterial cells under adverse conditions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71:3427-3432.
  31. Dahan S, Wiles S, La Ragione RM, Best A, Woodward MJ, Stevens MP, Shaw RK, Chong Y, Knutton S, Phillips A, Frankel G (2005). EspJ is a prophage-encoded type III effector protein of attaching and effacing pathogens that modulates infection dynamics. Infection and Immunity. 73:679-686.
  32. Wiles S, Lilley AK, Philp JC, Bailey MJ, Whiteley AS (2005). Calibration and deployment of custom-designed bioreporters for protecting biological remediation consortia from toxic shock. Environmental Microbiology. 7:260-269.

Books/book chapters:

  1. Wiles S & Flood C (2023). Border controls as part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Borders, Boundaries & Pandemics. In press.
  2. Andreu N, Elkington P, Wiles S (2012). Imaging TB: from the bench to the clinic. In: Understanding Tuberculosis – Global Experiences and Innovative Approaches to Diagnosis. Edited by Cardona PJ. Published by InTech. ISBN 978-953-307-938-7.
  3. Wiles S, Robertson BD, Frankel G, Kerton A (2009). Bioluminescent monitoring of in vivo colonization and clearance dynamics by light-emitting bacteria. In Methods in Molecular Biology, Bioluminescence: Methods and Protocols (2nd Edition). 574:137-153. PB Rich & C Douillet (Eds). Published by Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-321-3_12. ISBN 978-1-60327-320-6.
  4. Philp JC, French C, Wiles S, Bell JML, Whiteley AS, Bailey MJ (2004). Wastewater Toxicity Assessment by Whole Cell Biosensor. In: Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 5, Water Pollution, Emerging Organic Pollutants in Wastewaters, volume ed. D. Barceló, pub. Springer Verlag, Berlin. ISBN 978-3-540-21365-9.
  5. Wiles S, Whiteley AS, Philp J, Bailey MJ (2001). BIOMATE: Development of custom-designed bioluminescent sensors for toxicity testing.  In Case, J.F et al (eds.). Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence.  World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore. ISBN: 978-9-81024-679-2.

Journal – Commentary/Letter:

  1. Wiles S (2015).”All models are wrong, but some are useful”: averting the ‘microbial apocalypse’. Virulence. Virulence. 2015 Nov 17;6(8):730-2. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2014.1001238. [Invited]
  2. Wiles S (2014). A helping hand during t-testing times. PLOS Biology 12(2): e1001785. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001785 [Invited]
  3. Wiles S (2011). Treatments no better than placebos. Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand. 17 (3): 4.

Other publications:

  1. Wiles S (2014). Reduction and refinement in animal experimentation: there is more to the 3Rs than replacement. Biochemist (published by the Biochemical Society). http://www.biochemist.org/bio/03603/0034/036030034.pdf (Invited)
  2. Wiles S (2014). Lack of research can seriously damage our health. The New Zealand Herald, 7/05 (http://bit.ly/R7COze)
  3. Wiles S (2011). Offering HPV vaccination to boys the logical, ethical thing to do. The Dominion Post, 5/10.
  4. Wiles S (2011). Animals in research – a scientist’s perspective. NZ MAF Welfare Pulse 9, 15 November, ISSN Print: 1175-0804, ISSN Online: 1175-0812, (http://www.maf.govt.nz/news-resources/publications.aspx) (Invited)
  5. Wiles S (2007). View from the frontline: the importance of the 3Rs in medical research. Viewpoints: National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (www.nc3rs.org.uk) http://bit.ly/H6yDL1. (Invited)
  6. Wiles S (2007). A model researcher: paying attention to the 3Rs can mean better science. Wellcome News, Issue 50, http://bit.ly/H3QaG3. (Invited)

 

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