I hold a PhD in Microbiology from the Quadram Institute, where I conducted my research under the supervision of Dr Matthew Gilmour and Professor Mark Webber. My doctoral research investigated how Listeria monocytogenes adapts to the stresses commonly encountered in food manufacturing environments, enabling the establishment of persistent, highly resilient reservoirs that present ongoing food safety risks.

Previously I also worked at QIB Extra, initially as a Research Scientist before becoming Lead of Genomic Services, where I specialised in metagenomic profiling of food production environments for industrial partners.

Prior to my PhD, I completed an MRes at Imperial College London. My research explored the effects of broad-spectrum antibiotics on gut microbiota metabolism and investigated effector interactions within the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, under the supervision of Dr Julie McDonald and Professor Alain Filloux.

My research career began at the University of Barcelona in the group of Professor Carlos Balsalobre, where I investigated the role of transcription elongation factors in regulating biofilm formation in Salmonella.

Key publications

Paracuellos, P., Bexter, A., Patkowski, J.B. et al. Molecular basis of type VI secretion system effector loading. Nat Microbiol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02363-x

Omelchenko O,  Gutiérrez AV,  Diaz M, Lewis E,  Solsona Gaya M, Webber M,  Gilmour M Evolved populations of Listeria monocytogenes related to biofilm formation and biocide stress in the context of food production environment niches. Microbial Genomics (2026) https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001611

Gutiérrez AV, Matthews M, Diaz M, Le Viet T, de Oliveira Martins L , Jørgensen F​, Aird H​, Painset A​, Som N, Omelchenko O​, Adriaenssens E​, . Kingsley R and Gilmour M.W Population structure and gene flux of Listeria monocytogenes ST121 reveal prophages as a candidate driver of adaptation and persistence in food production environments Microbial Genomics (2025)  https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001397

Yip, A.Y.G., King, O.G., Omelchenko, O. et al. Antibiotics promote intestinal growth of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae by enriching nutrients and depleting microbial metabolites. Nat Commun 14, 5094 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40872-z