I obtained a BSc in Nutritional and Health Sciences from Taipei Medical University under which programme I was professionally trained as a clinical dietitian. I then completed an MSc with distinction at the University of Reading in Nutritional Sciences (2013) before I went on to study for a PhD (2015-2018) in Microbiology at the University of East Anglia (UEA) under the supervision of Dr Lindsay Hall, and was partly funded by UEA Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences International Bursary.

My PhD focused on understanding the role of Clostridium perfringens in intestinal diseases using genomics (Whole Genome Sequencing), characterising phenotypic virulence traits and establishing a disease model to understand C. perfringens intestinal infections.

Key Publications

Kiu R & Hall LJ. An update on the human and animal enteric pathogen Clostridium perfringens. Emerging Microbes & Infections 7, 141. 2018. DOI:10.1038/s41426-018-0144-8

Kiu R, Caim S, Alexander S, Pachori P, Hall LJ. Probing genomic aspects of the multi-host pathogen Clostridium perfringens reveals significant pangenome diversity, and a diverse array of virulence factors. Front Microbiol 8, 2485. 2017. DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2017.02485

Kiu R, Caim S, Alcon-Giner C, Belteki G, Clarke P, Pickard D, Dougan G, Hall LJ. Preterm infant-associated Clostridium tertium, Clostridium cadaveris, and Clostridium paraputrificum strains: genomic and evolutionary insights. Genome Biology and Evolution 9,10. 2017. DOI:10.1093/gbe/evx210