During her PhD, Josie focussed on trying to further the understanding of both transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation in the opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Her work included determining new targets of two component systems in P. aeruginosa, and also involved searching for novel quorum quenching compounds to inhibit the las, rhl and pqs quorum sensing systems in this bacterium. Additionally, Josie investigated the diverse characteristics of P. aeruginosa wound isolates, such as quorum sensing abilities, the capacities to produce various virulence determinants, and their different antibiotic resistances. Any connections between these different traits were sort, with aims to provide insight into how different isolates can vary in their abilities to both cause infections and resist antibacterial treatment, and to potentially identify pathways that affect multiple virulence factors and survival strategies as targets for new antimicrobial strategies. After the completion of her studies, Josie continued to research regulatory mechanisms in P. aeruginosa and found an interest in the Gac/Rsm pathway that is linked to the small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) called rsmY and rsmZ. Since this time, Josie has developed a keen interest in regulatory RNAs and thus in 2014 became a Research Fellow in Bacteriology in the Denham group (in the Microbiology and Infection Unit, at the University of Warwick), where she investigates the roles sRNAs play in the different life styles of Bacillus subtilis. In her current role, Josie will provide new insights into the function of sRNAs, the conditions under which they are expressed and their potential targets.

Josie Mckeown studied for a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and Genetics at the University of Nottingham between 2006 and 2009. Following this, she completed a PhD in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Nottingham, in the laboratories of Professor Paul Williams and Professor Miguel Cámara.