Dr Maria Diaz

Researcher

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Listeria and other invasive pathogens

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I am a Research Scientist in the ‘Microbes and Food Safety’ program at Quadram Institute Bioscience in Norwich, UK. My research focuses on the microbial ecosystems present in food and food processing environments, with an emphasis on how these populations interact to persist and impact food safety and quality.

As a key member of Dr Matthew Gilmour’s research group, I investigate the microbial traits of Listeria monocytogenes to uncover the mechanisms that contribute to its resilience and risk in food processing settings. My work extends to studying Listeria’s interactions with other microbial communities, highlighting the factors that enable its survival and proliferation in challenging environments.

I collaborate closely with industry partners to tackle real-world challenges in food safety and quality. By utilising genomics and metagenomics tools, I identify spoilage microorganisms and provide actionable findings to improve food production processes.

My academic background includes extensive experience in characterising the microbiota of traditional fermented foods and identifying spoilage bacteria in traditional dairy products. This expertise enriches my understanding of microbial dynamics in diverse food systems, making me a valuable collaborator for advancing knowledge and innovation in food microbiology.

Atter A, Diaz M, Tano-Debrah K, Parry-Hanson Kunadu A, Mayer MJ, Sayavedra L, Misita C, Amoa-Awua W, Narbad . (2024)

The predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeasts involved in the spontaneous fermentation of millet during the production of the traditional porridge Hausa koko in Ghana

BMC Microbiology


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Diaz M, Aird H, Le Viet T, Gutierrez AV, Larke-Mejia N, Omelchenko O, Moragues-Solanas L, Fritscher J, Som N, McLauchlin J, Hildebrand F, Jørgensen F, Gilmour M. (2024)

Microbial composition and dynamics in environmental samples from a ready-to-eat food production facility with a long-term colonization of Listeria monocytogenes

Food Microbiology


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Baker DJ,Aydin A,Le Viet T,Kay GL,Rudder S,de Oliveira Martins L,Tedim AP,Kolyva A,Diaz M,Alikhan NF,Meadows L,Bell A,Gutierrez AV,Trotter AJ,Thomson NM,Gilroy R,Griffith L,Adriaenssens EM,Stanley R,Charles IG,Elumogo N,Wain J,Prakash R,Meader E,Mather AE,Webber M,Dervisevic S,Page AJ,O J. (2021)

CoronaHiT: high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

Genome medicine


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Volz E,Hill V,McCrone JT,Price A,Jorgensen D,O'Toole Á,Southgate J,Johnson R,Jackson B,Nascimento FF,Rey SM,Nicholls SM,Colquhoun RM,da Silva,Shepherd J,Pascall DJ,Shah R,Jesudason N,Li K,Jarrett R,Pacchiarini N,Bull M,Geidelberg L,Siveroni I,Goodfellow I,Loman NJ,Pybus OG,Robertson DL,Thomson EC,Rambaut A,Connor TR,Koshy C,Wise E,Cortes N,Lynch J,Kidd S,Mori M,Fairley DJ,Curran T,McKenna JP,Adams H,Fraser C,Golubchik T,Bonsall D,Moore C,Caddy SL,Khokhar FA,Wantoch M,Reynolds N,Warne B,Maksimovic J,Spellman K,McCluggage K,John M,Beer R,Afifi S,Morgan S,Marchbank A,Price A,Kitchen C,Gulliver H,Merrick I,Southgate J,Guest M,Munn R,Workman T,Connor TR,Fuller W,Bresner C,Snell LB,Charalampous T,Nebbia G,Batra R,Edgeworth J,Robson SC,Beckett A,Loveson KF,Aanensen DM,Underwood AP,Yeats CA,Abudahab K,Taylor BEW,Menegazzo M,Clark G,Smith W,Khakh M,Fleming VM,Lister MM,Howson-Wells HC,Berry L,Boswell T,Joseph A,Willingham I,Bird P,Helmer T,Fallon K,Holmes C,Tang J,Raviprakash V,Campbell S,Sheriff N,Loose MW,Holmes N,Moore C,Carlile M,Wright V,Sang F,Debebe J,Coll F,Signell AW,Betancor G,Wilson HD,Feltwell T,Houldcroft CJ,Eldirdiri S,Kenyon A,Davis T,Pybus O,du Plessis,Zarebski A,Raghwani J,Kraemer M,Francois S,Attwood S,Vasylyeva T,Torok ME,Hamilton WL,Goodfellow IG,Hall G,Jahun AS,Chaudhry Y,Hosmillo M,Pinckert ML,Georgana I,Yakovleva A,Meredith LW,Moses S,Lowe H,Ryan F,Fisher CL,Awan AR,Boyes J,Breuer J,Harris KA,Brown JR,Shah D,Atkinson L,Lee JCD,Alcolea-Medina A,Moore N,Cortes N,Williams R,Chapman MR,Levett LJ,Heaney J,Smith DL,Bashton M,Young GR,Allan J,Loh J,Randell PA,Cox A,Madona P,Holmes A,Bolt F,Price J,Mookerjee S,Rowan A,Taylor GP,Ragonnet-Cronin M,Nascimento FF,Jorgensen D,Siveroni I,Johnson R,Boyd O,Geidelberg L,Volz EM,Brunker K,Smollett KL,Loman NJ,Quick J,McMurray C,Stockton J,Nicholls S,Rowe W,Poplawski R,Martinez-Nunez RT,Mason J,Robinson TI,O'Toole E,Watts J,Breen C,Cowell A,Ludden C,Sluga G,Machin NW,Ahmad SSY,George RP,Halstead F,Sivaprakasam V,Thomson EC,Shepherd JG,Asamaphan P,Niebel MO,Li KK,Shah RN,Jesudason NG,Parr YA,Tong L,Broos A,Mair D,Nichols J,Carmichael SN,Nomikou K,Aranday-Cortes E,Johnson N,Starinskij I,da Silva,Robertson DL,Orton RJ,Hughes J,Vattipally S,Singer JB,Hale AD,Macfarlane-Smith LR,Harper KL,Taha Y,Payne BAI,Burton-Fanning S,Waugh S,Collins J,Eltringham G,Templeton KE,McHugh MP,Dewar R,Wastenge E,Dervisevic S,Stanley R,Prakash R,Stuart C,Elumogo N,Sethi DK,Meader EJ,Coupland LJ,Potter W,Graham C,Barton E,Padgett D,Scott G,Swindells E,Greenaway J,Nelson A,Yew WC,Resende Silva,Andersson M,Shaw R,Peto T,Justice A,Eyre D,Crooke D,Hoosdally S,Sloan TJ,Duckworth N,Walsh S,Chauhan AJ,Glaysher S,Bicknell K,Wyllie S,Butcher E,Elliott S,Lloyd A,Impey R,Levene N,Monaghan L,Bradley DT,Allara E,Pearson C,Muir P,Vipond IB,Hopes R,Pymont HM,Hutchings S,Curran MD,Parmar S,Lackenby A,Mbisa T,Platt S,Miah S,Bibby D,Manso C,Hubb J,Chand M,Dabrera G,Ramsay M,Bradshaw D,Thornton A,Myers R,Schaefer U,Groves N,Gallagher E,Lee D,Williams D,Ellaby N,Harrison I,Hartman H,Manesis N,Patel V,Bishop C,Chalker V,Osman H,Bosworth A,Robinson E,Holden MTG,Shaaban S,Birchley A,Adams A,Davies A,Gaskin A,Plimmer A,Gatica-Wilcox B,McKerr C,Moore C,Williams C,Heyburn D,De Lacy,Hilvers E,Downing F,Shankar G,Jones H,Asad H,Coombes J,Watkins J,Evans JM,Fina L,Gifford L,Gilbert L,Graham L,Perry M,Morgan M,Bull M,Cronin M,Pacchiarini N,Craine N,Jones R,Howe R,Corden S,Rey S,Kumziene-Summerhayes S,Taylor S,Cottrell S,Jones S,Edwards S,O'Grady J,Page AJ,Wain J,Webber MA,Mather AE,Baker DJ,Rudder S,Yasir M,Thomson NM,Aydin A,Tedim AP,Kay GL,Trotter AJ,Gilroy RAJ,Alikhan NF,de Oliveira,Le Viet T,Meadows L,Kolyva A,Diaz M,Bell A,Gutierrez AV,Charles IG,Adriaenssens EM,Kingsley RA,Casey A,Simpson DA,Molnar Z,Thompson T,Acheson E,Masoli JAH,Knight BA,Hattersley A,Ellard S,Auckland C,Mahungu TW,Irish-Tavares D,Haque T,Bourgeois Y,Scarlett GP,Partridge DG,Raza M,Evans C,Johnson K,Liggett S,Baker P,Essex S,Lyons RA,Caller LG,Castellano S,Williams RJ,Kristiansen M,Roy S,Williams CA,Dyal PL,Tutill HJ,Panchbhaya YN,Forrest LM,Niola P,Findlay J,Brooks TT,Gavriil A,Mestek-Boukhibar L,Weeks S,Pandey S,Berry L,Jones K,Richter A,Beggs A,Smith CP,Bucca G,Hesketh AR,Harrison EM,Peacock SJ,Palmer S,Churcher CM,Bellis KL,Girgis ST,Naydenova P,Blane B,Sridhar S,Ruis C,Forrest S,Cormie C,Gill HK,Dias J,Higginson EE,Maes M,Young J,Kermack LM,Hadjirin NF,Aggarwal D,Griffith L,Swingler T,Davidson RK,Rambaut A,Williams T,Balcazar CE,Gallagher MD,O'Toole Á,Rooke S,Jackson B,Colquhoun R,Ashworth J,Hill V,McCrone JT,Scher E,Yu X,Williamson KA,Stanton TD,Michell SL,Bewshea CM,Temperton B,Michelsen ML,Warwick-Dugdale J,Manley R,Farbos A,Harrison JW,Sambles CM,Studholme DJ,Jeffries AR,Darby AC,Hiscox JA,Paterson S,Iturriza-Gomara M,Jackson KA,Lucaci AO,Vamos EE,Hughes M,Rainbow L,Eccles R,Nelson C,Whitehead M,Turtle L,Haldenby ST,Gregory R,Gemmell M,Kwiatkowski D,de Silva,Smith N,Angyal A,Lindsey BB,Groves DC,Green LR,Wang D,Freeman TM,Parker MD,Keeley AJ,Parsons PJ,Tucker RM,Brown R,Wyles M,Constantinidou C,Unnikrishnan M,Ott S,Cheng JKJ,Bridgewater HE,Frost LR,Taylor-Joyce G,Stark R,Baxter L,Alam MT,Brown PE,McClure PC,Chappell JG,Tsoleridis T,Ball J,Gramatopoulos D,Buck D,Todd JA,Green A,Trebes A,MacIntyre-Cockett G,de Cesare,Langford C,Alderton A,Amato R,Goncalves S,Jackson DK,Johnston I,Sillitoe J,Palmer S,Lawniczak M,Berriman M,Danesh J,Livett R,Shirley L,Farr B,Quail M,Thurston S,Park N,Betteridge E,Weldon D,Goodwin S,Nelson R,Beaver C,Letchford L,Jackson DA,Foulser L,McMinn L,Prestwood L,Kay S,Kane L,Dorman MJ,Martincorena I,Puethe C,Keatley JP,Tonkin-Hill G,Smith C,Jamrozy D,Beale MA,Patel M,Ariani C,Spencer-Chapman M,Drury E,Lo S,Rajatileka S,Scott C,James K,Buddenborg SK,Berger DJ,Patel G,Garcia-Casado MV,Dibling T,McGuigan S,Rogers HA,Hunter AD,Souster E,Neaverson AS. (2021)

Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity.

Cell


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Hutchins C, Sayavedra L, Diaz M, Gupta P, Tissingh E, Elumogo C, Nolan J, Charles I, Elumogo N, Narbad . (2021)

Genomic analysis of a rare recurrent Listeria monocytogenes prosthetic joint infection indicates a protected niche within biofilm on prosthetic materials

Scientific Reports, 11(1), 21864


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Diaz M, Atter A, Tano-Debrah K, Parry-Hanson Kunadu A, Mayer MJ, Colquhoun IJ, Nielson D, Baker D, Narbad A, Amoa-Awua . (2021)

Microbial diversity and metabolite profile of fermenting millet in the production of Hausa koko, a Ghanaian fermented cereal porridge

Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 681983


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Page AJ, Mather AE, Le Viet T, Meader EJ, Alikhan NF, Kay GL, de Oliveira Martins L, Aydin A, Baker DJ, Trotter AJ, Rudder S, Tedim AP, Kolyva A, Stanley R, Yasir M, Diaz M, Potter W, Stuart C, Meadows L, Bell A, Gutierrez AV, Thomson NM, Adriaenssens EM, Swingler T, Gilroy RAJ, Griffith L, Sethi DK, Aggarwal D, Brown CS, Davidson RK, Kingsley RA, Bedford L, Coupland LJ, Charles IG, Elumogo N, Wain J, Prakash R, Webber MA, Smith SJL, Chand M, Dervisevic S, O'Grady J. (2021)

Large-scale sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from one region allows detailed epidemiology and enables local outbreak management.

Microbial genomics


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Webber M, Sethi D, Felgate H, Diaz M, Faust K, Kiy C, Clarke P, Hartel C, Rupp . (2021)

Chlorhexidine Gluconate Usage is Associated with Antiseptic Tolerance in Staphylococci from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

JAC-AMR, 3


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