Professor Greg Cook
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago
In September 2019, Professor Cook delivered a public lecture Fighting back: new weapons in the battle against antimicrobial resistant pathogens in Napier as part of the Marsden Fund 25 Series.
His research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms used by bacteria to grow and thrive in extreme environments and withstand the effects of multiple stressors, including antimicrobials.
Professor Cook says that Marsden funding has played a pivotal role in uncovering many of the fundamental aspects of this research. It has lead to a new paradigm in antimicrobial development – the discovery and development of drugs that target the metabolism and energetics of bacteria. Not only has his laboratory effectively translated this work to important infectious diseases in humans like tuberculosis, they have recently applied these discoveries to applications in the Agricultural sector including discovering new inhibitors for management of mastitis and greenhouse gas emissions in ruminant animals and soils.
In addition to his role as Microbiologist at the University of Otago, Professor Cook has been widely recognised for his research and is a Fellow of the Royal Society New Zealand, James Cook Fellow, 8th Sir William Dunn Fellow (Cambridge), Deputy Director of the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiversity, and Chair-elect of the Gordon Research Conference on Bioenergetics. He has trained and mentored over 100 graduate students and junior scientists during his 20 years at the University of Otago.