Primary research interest

Bacterial pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance

About me

I completed my PhD at Monash University and postdoctoral studies at the Technical University of Denmark. In 2001, I was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Danish Natural Sciences Research Council and was subsequently appointed to Lecturer. I joined The University of Queensland in 2004 as a Senior Lecturer and was promoted to Reader in 2007 and to Professor in 2010. I was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2011 and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship in 2016. My research has been consistently supported by NHMRC and ARC grant funding.

Research focus and collaborations

I am a Research Group Leader at UQ and Deputy Director of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre. The focus of my research is the study of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), the major cause of urinary tract infection and a leading cause of sepsis. My work examines the genetics, genomics and virulence of antibiotic resistant UPEC clones, and the role of cell-surface factors in UPEC adhesion, aggregation, biofilm formation and colonisation of the urinary tract. I have published >200 papers, including seminal research discoveries on the role of UPEC adhesins in disease, the evolution and pathogenesis of the antibiotic resistant UPEC ST131 clone, and UPEC biofilm dynamics. I am a founding Director of the UTI Global Alliance – an international society of clinical, research and biomedical professionals (https://utiga.org).

Collaborations

International: Prof Jean-Marc Ghigo, Pasteur Institute, France. Prof Scott Hultgren, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA. Prof Tim Walsh, University of Cardiff, UK. Dr Mathew Upton, University of Plymouth, UK.

National: A/Prof Scott Beatson (UQ), Prof Matthew Sweet (UQ), Prof Mark Walker (UQ), Prof Alastair McEwan (UQ), Prof David Paterson (UQ), Dr Adam Irwin (UQ), Prof Glen Ulett (Griffith U), Prof Michael Jennings (Griffith U), A/Prof Begoña Heras (LaTrobe), Prof Kate Moore (UNSW), Dr Jai Tree (UNSW), Prof Darren Trott (U Adelaide), Dr Patrick Harris (Director of Microbiology, Queensland Health).

Group members

  • Dr Minh-Duy Phan, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Dr Nhu Nguyen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Dr Kate Peters, Research Manager

Funded projects

  • NHMRC IDEAS Grants 2021-2025, How a multidrug resistant bacterial pathogen has become pandemic. Total value of grant: $1,116,544
  • ARC Discovery Projects 2021-202, How bacteria form resistant aggregates and biofilms. Total value of grant: $445,953
  • NHMRC IDEAS Grants 2020-2024, Understanding the role of specific virulence features in extra-intestinal E. coli clones. Total value of grant: $894,999
  • NHMRC Development Grant 2020-2022, Breaking antibiotic resistance in high priority Gram-negative sepsis pathogens. Total value of grant: $1,067,778
  • The Children's Hospital Foundation 2020, In vivo imaging system for tracking inflammation, infection, cancer, pain and bioactive molecules. Total value of grant: $204,582
  • Pathology Queensland - Study, Education & Research Trust Fund 2020, Rapid detection of resistance genes from Gram-negative bacteria isolated from blood in ICU-admitted patients. Total value of grant: $ 29,384
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2018-2020, The dual-edged sword of zinc as an innate immune antimicrobial weapon against uropathogenic E. coli. Total value of grant: $784,428.00
  • NHMRC MRFF - Antimicrobial Resistance Targeted Call for Research 2018 – 2023, Cluster randomised trial of a multimodal intervention to reduce antimicrobial use in residential aged care facilities. Total value of grant: $1,897,377
  • ARC Discovery Projects 2017-2019, How autotransporter proteins mediate bacterial interactions. Total value of grant: $195,191
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2017-2020, Understanding Uropathogenic E. coli-mediated subversion of innate immunity. Total value of grant: $932,536
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2016-2018, DsbA inhibitors: from hits to leads. Total value of grant: $882,978
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2014-2017, Functional and genomic analysis of the globally disseminated multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone
    Total value of grant: $793,056
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2013-2015, Role of autotransporter proteins in uropathogenic E. coli infections (M.A. Schembri)
    Total value of grant: $590,222
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2012-2014, Evolution and pathogenicity of NDM-1 positive Escherichia coli (M.A. Schembri, T.R. Walsh, S.A. Beatson)
    Total value of grant: $622,350
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2011-2013, Role of macrophages in uropathogenic E. coli infections (M.A. Schembri, M.J. Sweet, G.C. Ulett, T. Ravassi)
    Total value of grant: $555,048.
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2011-2013, Escherichia coli ST131: an emerging pathogen (M.A. Schembri, S.A. Beatson)
    Total value of grant: $555,048
  • NHMRC Project Grant 2010-2012, Adhesins of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (M.A. Schembri)
    Total value of grant: $391,125
  • ARC Discovery Project 2010-2012, Disulfide catalysis and protein folding in bacterial virulence (M.A .Schembri, A.G. McEwan, B. Heras)
    Total value of grant: $300,000.
  • ARC Discovery Project 2010-2012, Autotransporter proteins of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (M.A. Schembri)
    Total value of grant: $300,000
  • National and International Research Alliances Program 2009-2011, Development of a livestock vaccine to reduce food-borne enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infections in humans (R Cobbold, W Jorgensen, MA Schembri, T Mahony)
    Total value of grant: $2,000,000

Teaching interests

Student supervision

PhD: Principal Advisor 6, Associate Advisor 2 Honours: 1

Achievements and awards 

Awards

Frank Fenner Award, Australian Society for Microbiology (2011)
Australian Society for Microbiology BacPath Oration Award (2019)
 

Professional activities

Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology (FASM)
Elected Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
President Elect, Australian Society for Microbiology (2021)

Researcher biography

Professor Mark Schembri is a prominent microbiologist with experience in combating the global health crisis presented by multi-drug resistant pathogens. Professor Schembri's expertise on the virulence of bacterial pathogens and his innovative analysis of biofilm formation aims to improve the outcomes of the >150 million individuals that suffer from urinary tract infections each year across the globe.

Through the application of genetic, genomic and functional studies on uropathogenic E. coli, Professor Schembri has identified targets to reduce the virulence of this pathogen, and will pursue the development of life-saving therapeutic and preventative advances with the assistance of an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship. Professor Schembri has tracked the rapid emergence and global spread of a virulent, drug-resistant E. coli clone and used genome sequencing to understand its evolution and virulence.

Links: Professor Schembri collaborates with national and international research leaders, including in Denmark, where he was a lecturer. Professor Schembri has strong links with other international experts in his field, including at the Pasteur Institute and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge. His research collaborations also span lead groups at UQ and other top Australian institutes, including Griffith and La Trobe Universities.

Membership, Funding and patents: Since 2014, Professor Schembri has been awarded over $8 million in funding from competitive national research funding councils. He holds provisional patents for the development of novel therapeutic agents and vaccine antigens. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences in his field.

Awards and Communication: Professor Schembri was the recipient of the Frank Fenner Award (2010) and the ASM BacPath Oration Award (2019) for his outstanding original research contribution to the study of Infectious Disease. He was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2011-2015) and currently holds a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship. Professor Schembri is the author of >200 peer-reviewed research manuscripts.