Elitsa’s PhD project is focused on understanding to what extent the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in rivers poses a risk to human health. This builds upon previous work in coastal waters which found that recreational activities, such as bathing, are associated with an increased risk of exposure to and colonisation by ARB. Her project is funded by NERC GW4+ DTP and while based at the University of Exeter, additional project partners include the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and the UK Health Security Agency, with further support from the Environmental Agency.

Elitsa’s lead supervisor is Dr Anne Leonard, with Prof William Gaze, Prof Ruth Garside, Dr Andrew Singer, and Dr Nicola Elviss as additional supervisors.

Before joining Dr Anne Leonard’s team, Elitsa completed a two-year MSc by Research in Biological Sciences, supervised by Prof Ben Raymond. For her dissertation project, she studied the evolutionary ecology of antibiotic resistance, using an insect model system. More specifically, she examined the fitness consequences of resistance acquisition in the opportunistic pathogen Enterobacter cloacae in its natural environment – the gut of the Diamondback moth larvae (Plutella xylostella).