Alex O’Neill is Professor of Antimicrobial Research at the University of Leeds, UK, and heads a research group whose aim is to better understand and address the problems presented by antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens.

Alex’s twenty-year academic career has involved two particular areas of focus. The first is concerned with elucidation of the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria resist the effects of antibiotics. The second – and the one of greatest relevance to REVIVE – involves the discovery and biological characterization of novel antibacterial drug candidates, and the generation of new approaches/tools to facilitate these endeavours. Alex has consulted and collaborated extensively with industry on the latter.

Of late, Alex’s lab has sought to identify potential novel antibacterial drug candidates by revisiting clinically unexploited antibiotic classes (e.g. PubMed IDs 29234001, 27899790), and by repurposing compounds with a history of safe human use outside antibacterial chemotherapy (e.g. PubMed IDs 25368206, 27121399).

Alex is a member of the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s pool of experts and sits on the scientific advisory board of Blueberry Therapeutics, the editorial board of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, and the editorial advisory board of the journal ACS Infectious Diseases. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has an h-index of 44.

Alex earned his BSc in microbiology at the University of Bristol and his PhD at the University of Leeds, both in the UK.