Rate My Professor Verlaine Timms

Prior to joining the University of Newcastle in 2021, Dr. Timms was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Microbiology at Westmead Hospital from 2015 to 2021. Her expertise significantly impacted infectious disease outbreak control in Australia, particularly for respiratory diseases including COVID-19, Legionellosis, and pertussis. She has served on national and state expert groups such as the Communicable Disease Genomics Network and the NSW Genomics Implementation Plan. At Newcastle, she manages the microbial communities team in the Neilan Lab's Microbial and Molecular Diversity group, leads the Synthetic Microbial Communities Theme for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, and serves as Deputy Theme Leader of the Host, Habitat and Infection theme in the HMRI Immune Health Program. Dr. Timms has secured grants totaling $324,011 across seven projects, including The Deadly Duo of Antibiotic and Biocide Bacterial Resistance ($81,224, Ramaciotti Foundations, 2024-2027) as lead investigator and Bioprospecting Novel Metabolites in Gut-Associated Microbes of Australian Stingless Bees ($25,000, ARC CoESB, 2025). Key publications include 'The impact of anthropogenic activities on antimicrobial and heavy metal resistance in aquatic environments' (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2025), 'Eco-friendly zinc oxide nanoparticle biosynthesis powered by probiotic bacteria' (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2025), '16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data from an Australian wastewater treatment plant' (Microbiology Resource Announcements, 2024), and 'Seasonal and Spatial Dynamics of Fungal Leaf Endophytes in Eucalyptus crebra (Narrow-Leaved Ironbark)' (Microbial Ecology, 2024).