Dr Verlaine Timms is a Senior Research Fellow in Microbial Genomics at the University of Newcastle.

Her research focuses on the investigation of secondary metabolism and antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. Her expertise in microbial genomics and evolution contributes to the improved management of both beneficial bacteria and those pathogenic to humans.

Verlaine has applied genomics to study antibiotic resistance and the evolution of virulence in multiple infectious disease outbreaks, including SARS-CoV-2, Legionnaires’ disease, pertussis, diphtheria, and VRE.

During the early stages of Australia’s COVID-19 response, she was part of the NSW genome sequencing team that reported weekly to NSW Health and on a national level.

Verlaine’s research is applied through her roles as Deputy Lead of the Infection, Environment, and Host Theme of the Immune Health Research Program for the Hunter Medical Research Institute, Deputy Chair of the Newcastle Bioinformatics Users’ Group (NuBUGs), and former Deputy Chair of the Westmead Bioinformatics Users’ Group.

She has provided advice at a national level on multiple working groups for the Communicable Disease Genomics Network and the NSW Ministry of Health. Her research collaborations span groups in all states through the public health network of Australia, across NSW universities, government bodies, and the health sector.

Verlaine has served on expert state committees and collaborated with international researchers on microbial genomics-related projects. Since moving to the University of Newcastle in 2021, she has established research collaborations with researchers from the Hunter Medical Research Institute on microbial secondary metabolism and antimicrobial resistance.