Dr Conor Feehily

  • Lecturer in Bacteriology (Bacteriology)

telephone: 01413308415
email: Conor.Feehily@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns: He/him/his

B225, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, G12 8QQ

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1253-7353

Biography

My PhD was obtained from University of Galway (NUI Galway) where I investigated the role of the glutamate decarboxylase system in stress response of Listeria monocytogenes under the supervision of Prof Conor O’Byrne.

I then moved to University College Cork and APC Microbiome Ireland as a postdoctoral researcher to work with Prof Paul Cotter and Prof Paul Ross, searching for strains of Lactobacillus that could inhibit the pathogens involved in bacterial vaginosis. A subsequent funded postdoctoral fellowship saw me continue and extend this work at Teagasc and the APC and develop research into the role of the vaginal microbiome in preterm birth.

Following from this I started a third postdoctoral position, on the MicrobeMom project based at Teagasc where I joined a large cross institutional team looking at the factors that influence the transfer of microbes from mothers to infants.

A fourth postdoctoral position then took me to University of Oxford to work with Prof Nicole Stoesser and a multidisciplinary team developing a novel, microscopy-based tool to diagnose bacterial infections and determine antibiotic resistance.

I have now joined University of Glasgow and the School of Infection and Immunity as a lecturer in Bacteriology.

Research interests

My research group is interested in the role of the human microbiome in health and disease. In particular we focus on the vaginal microbiome across 3 core areas – Community Ecology and Genomics, Mechanisms of Host-Microbe Interaction, and Intervention/Modulation.

Microbiome sequencing has provided large amounts of data linking vaginal microbes to health outcomes. Communities dominated with Lactobacillus species (L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. jensenii, L. iners) are generally considered beneficial. Their depletion has been associated with an increased risk of sexually transmitted infection, bacterial vaginosis, and pregnancy complications including preterm birth. There is great genetic diversity both between and within these species, coupled with varying health associations. We are keen to determine the mechanisms that are driving these associations and highlight the importance of strain level variation.

 

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Publications

Selected publications

All publications

Prior publications

Article

Gillian A. Corbett et al. (2024) Dietary amino acids, macronutrients, vaginal birth, and breastfeeding are associated with the vaginal microbiome in early pregnancy Crossref. (doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01130-24)

Alison Farrar et al. (2024) Ribosome Phenotypes Enable Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing inEscherichia coli Crossref. (doi: 10.1101/2024.06.18.24309111)

Alison Farrar et al. (2023) Infection Inspection: Using the power of citizen science to help with image-based prediction of antibiotic resistance inEscherichia coli Crossref. (doi: 10.1101/2023.12.11.23299807)

Sai Ravi Chandra Nori, Tara K. McGuire, Elaine M. Lawton, Fionnuala M. McAuliffe, Douwe Van Sinderen, Calum J. Walsh, Paul D. Cotter, Conor Feehily (2023) Profiling of vaginal Lactobacillus jensenii isolated from preterm and full-term pregnancies reveals strain-specific factors relating to host interaction Crossref. (doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.001137)

S.G. Moore, C. Feehily, R.C. Doyle, F. Buckley, P. Lonergan, P.D. Cotter, S.T. Butler (2023) Associations between the postpartum uterine and vaginal microbiota and the subsequent development of purulent vaginal discharge vary with dairy cow breed and parity Crossref. (doi: 10.3168/jds.2022-22720)

Stelios Chatzimichail et al. (2023) Rapid Identification of Bacterial isolates Using Microfluidic Adaptive Channels and Multiplexed Fluorescence Microscopy Crossref. (doi: 10.1101/2023.07.16.23292615)

Conor Feehily et al. (2023) Detailed mapping of Bifidobacterium strain transmission from mother to infant via a dual culture-based and metagenomic approach Crossref. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38694-0)

Aleksander Zagajewski et al. (2022) Deep Learning and Single Cell Phenotyping for Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Crossref. (doi: 10.1101/2022.12.08.22283219)

McHugh AJ, Yap M, Crispie F, Feehily C, Hill C, Cotter PD (2021) Microbiome-based environmental monitoring of a dairy processing facility highlights the challenges associated with low microbial-load samples. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1038/s41538-021-00087-2)

Yeluri Jonnala BR, Feehily C, O'Connor PM, Field D, Hill C, Ross RP, McSweeney PLH, Sheehan JJ, Cotter PD (2020) Assessing the ability of nisin A and derivatives thereof to inhibit gram-negative bacteria from the genus Thermus. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-19350)

Yap M, Feehily C, Walsh CJ, Fenelon M, Murphy EF, McAuliffe FM, van Sinderen D, O'Toole PW, O'Sullivan O, Cotter PD (2020) Evaluation of methods for the reduction of contaminating host reads when performing shotgun metagenomic sequencing of the milk microbiome. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78773-6)

Conor Feehily, David Crosby, Calum J. Walsh, Elaine M. Lawton, Shane Higgins, Fionnuala M. McAuliffe, Paul D. Cotter (2020) Shotgun sequencing of the vaginal microbiome reveals both a species and functional potential signature of preterm birth Crossref. (doi: 10.1038/s41522-020-00162-8)

McHugh AJ, Yap M, Crispie F, Feehily C, Hill C, Cotter PD (2020) Microbiome-based environmental monitoring of a dairy processing facility highlights the challenges associated with low microbial-load samples Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1101/2020.09.11.292862)

National SARS-CoV-2 Serology Assay Evaluation Group (2020) Performance characteristics of five immunoassays for SARS-CoV-2: a head-to-head benchmark comparison. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30634-4)

Moore RL, Geraghty AA, Feehily C, Saldova R, Murphy EF, Van Sinderen D, Cotter PD, McAuliffe FM (2020) Can a probiotic supplement in pregnancy result in transfer to the neonatal gut: A systematic review. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1111/aogs.13899)

Yap M, Feehily C, Walsh CJ, Fenelon M, Murphy EF, McAuliffe FM, Sinderen Dv, O’Toole PW, O’Sullivan O, Cotter P (2020) Evaluation of Methods to Optimise Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing-Based Analysis of the Microbiome of Milk Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-26788/v1)

Aoife J. McHugh, Conor Feehily, Mark A. Fenelon, David Gleeson, Colin Hill, Paul D. Cotter, Jack A. Gilbert (2020) Tracking the Dairy Microbiota from Farm Bulk Tank to Skimmed Milk Powder Crossref. (doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00226-20)

McHugh AJ, Feehily C, Tobin JT, Fenelon MA, Hill C, Cotter PD (2018) Mesophilic Sporeformers Identified in Whey Powder by Using Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1128/aem.01305-18)

Milani C et al. (2018) Tracing mother-infant transmission of bacteriophages by means of a novel analytical tool for shotgun metagenomic datasets: METAnnotatorX. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1186/s40168-018-0527-z)

Lamichhane P, Pietrzyk A, Feehily C, Cotter PD, Mannion DT, Kilcawley KN, Kelly AL, Sheehan JJ (2018) Effect of milk centrifugation and incorporation of high heat-treated centrifugate on the microbial composition and levels of volatile organic compounds of Maasdam cheese. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-14180)

McHugh, A.J., Feehily, C., Hill, C., Cotter, P.D. (2017) Detection and enumeration of spore-forming bacteria in powdered dairy products Scopus - Elsevier. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00109)

Conor Feehily, Aiden Finnerty, Pat G. Casey, Colin Hill, Cormac G. M. Gahan, Conor P. O’Byrne, Kimon-Andreas G. Karatzas, Olivier Neyrolles (2014) Divergent Evolution of the Activity and Regulation of the Glutamate Decarboxylase Systems in Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e and 10403S: Roles in Virulence and Acid Tolerance Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112649)

C. Feehily, C. P. O'Byrne, K. A. G. Karatzas (2012) Functional  -Aminobutyrate Shunt in Listeria monocytogenes: Role in Acid Tolerance and Succinate Biosynthesis Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.1128/aem.02184-12)

C. Feehily, K.A.G. Karatzas (2012) Role of glutamate metabolism in bacterial responses towards acid and other stresses Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05434.x)

C.P. O'Byrne, C. Feehily, R. Ham, K.A.G. Karatzas (2011) A modified rapid enzymatic microtiter plate assay for the quantification of intracellular γ-aminobutyric acid and succinate semialdehyde in bacterial cells Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2010.10.017)

Grants

Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.

  • Establishing a Robust Platform for Genetic Manipulation in Lactobacillus jensenii: Advancing Functional Genomics in Vaginal Microbiome Research
    Tenovus Scotland
    2024 - 2025
     

A head and shoulders shot of Dr Conor Feehily

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