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About Amy
Dr Amy Scott-Thomas serves as a Senior Research Fellow and Laboratory Manager in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch. She earned her BSc with Honours from the University of Otago and her PhD in bacterial biosensors from Lincoln University. Possessing advanced skills in microbiology, analytical chemistry, bacterial genetics, biosensors, tissue culture techniques, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and electrochemistry, Dr Scott-Thomas leads the Infection Group's initiatives to develop non-invasive diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. Her work emphasizes breath analysis for detecting lung pathogens, with a particular focus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth in the cystic fibrosis lung through the identification of 2-aminoacetophenone using GC-MS. The group's research also encompasses Aspergillosis, tuberculosis, and Legionnaires' disease.
Dr Scott-Thomas has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications advancing diagnostic methodologies. Notable works include "Effect of Copper Spiked Potting Mix on the Emergence and Growth of Viola and Cabbages" (Jun et al., 2026, HortScience), investigating Legionella-associated risks; "Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Alpha-Lipoic Acid Modulate Cystathionine-γ-Lyase Expression in RAW 264.7 Macrophages" (Shahid et al., 2026, International Journal of Molecular Sciences); "Gut Microbiota and Liver Dysfunction in Sepsis" (Shahid et al., 2024); "Monoclonal Antibodies and Invasive Aspergillosis: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Perspectives" (Lian et al., 2022); and "Validating a Breath Collection and Analysis System for the New Tuberculosis Breath Test" (Scott-Thomas et al., 2013). Recent conference contributions detail urine-based and blood cell-free DNA tests for Legionnaires' disease and CRISPR-Cas12a detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA (Scott-Thomas et al., 2025). She has supervised doctoral research on low-risk potting mixes, monoclonal antibodies for Aspergillus, and Legionella detection methods. In 2020, Dr Scott-Thomas received $110,000 from the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation to develop a urine test for Legionnaires' disease. She currently leads a trial to accelerate diagnosis using non-invasive techniques.
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