Staff Profile: Dr. Neville Firth
Dr. Firth received his undergraduate training, leading to a First Class B.Sc. (Hons.) degree, at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), where he subsequently completed a Ph.D. at the Department of Microbiology in 1994. He then worked as a Senior Research Officer and Research Fellow in the Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney, on research projects funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC). Dr. Firth is currently a Senior Lecturer in Biology (Bioinformatics) in the School of Biological Sciences and the Molecular Biotechnology Program at the University of Sydney.
The underlying theme of Dr. Firth's research program is microbial evolution, with a primary focus on mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids, insertion sequences and transposons, that facilitate the horizontal genetic exchange which mediates the development of multiply antibiotic resistant pathogens. The Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, and the Gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus ("Golden Staph"), have served as model organisms. Bioinformatic, genetic and molecular biological methods are employed extensively in his studies. Dr. Firth has advised bioinformatics software developers and service providers such as Gene Codes Corporation and eBioinformatics Pty Ltd. He also has interests in biotechnological applications of microorganisms, in areas such as phage display technology and plasmid vector development.
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