Research Fellow and Group Leader, Department of Genetics, Teaching Bye-Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge

Dr Ashraf Zarkan is a microbiologist with a long-standing experience in infectious diseases and microbial genetics. He is currently a Group Leader at the Department of Genetics University of Cambridge and a Bye-Fellow at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Microbiology & a BSc in Pharmacy. Ash is an expert on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and his research is focused on tackling the rise of AMR, especially in the human pathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli). His clinical focus is on urinary tract infections (UTIs) where E. coli is a main pathogen and treatment failure, and infection recurrence are common. Dr Zarkan is an active member of the Microbiology Society, and he serves as an academic reviewer for a number of prestigious microbiology journals and grant funding bodies. He has lectured on several programmes in Cambridge on topics ranging from infectious diseases, bacterial genetics, and antimicrobial resistance. At other times, Ash is an entrepreneur with interest in drug discovery. He is a co-founder and CEO of BioTryp Therapeutics, a recent spin-off company from the University of Cambridge developing novel therapies for UTIs