Dr Anne Leonard is undertaking research as part of an Industrial Innovation Fellowship, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

This work aims to understand catchment-level processes contributing to the transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria in coastal bathing waters, with a view to identifying mitigation strategies to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the environment.

Anne joined the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in 2013, completing a PhD which investigated whether bacteria in the coastal zone are a threat to human health.

This work involved working across the disciplines of microbiology, evidence synthesis, and environmental epidemiology. Anne conducted the first epidemiological study to investigate the risk to bathers of exposure to and colonisation by antibiotic resistant bacteria in coastal bathing waters.

Since completing her PhD in 2016, Anne has worked with Prof Will Gaze, Dr Sahran Higgins, and with researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, to model human exposure to antibiotic resistance gene-bearing bacteria in coastal waters.

In addition to a PhD, Anne holds a BSc in biological sciences from the University of Exeter and an MSc in the biology and control of disease vectors from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr Leonard completed her PhD in Medical Sciences at the European Centre in 2016. During this time she conducted a systematic review on the risks of acquiring infections from sea bathing, and carried out epidemiological surveys investigating the link between recreational use of coastal waters and indicators of infection. She holds an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Exeter.

Dr Leonard is a member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiologists, as well as a member of the Microbiology Society.