Research Groups - UK

Professor C W Keevil, Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit in the School of Biological Sciences, and his team at the University of Southampton, examine survival rates of deposits of pathogens (including MRSA, E Coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Influenza A (H1N1), Aspergillus niger, Clostridium difficile) in a dry environment on stainless steel (the metal most commonly used in healthcare and food processing institutions) and on a range of copper alloys.

Biography and published papers

Professor Peter Lambert is one of the lead researchers working on the Selly Oak Copper Clinical Trial, responsible for the microbiological testing. In his lab, he has also tested copper and copper alloys for their efficacy against clinical strains of pathogens including Clostridium difficile, using a germinant to accelerate kill times of spores.

'Hospital Superbugs' lecture

Professor Rob Reed works on water treatment processes, including solar disinfection and safe storage of drinking water and studies responses of microorganisms to environmental stress. His team of researchers have studied the role of traditional copper and brass water storage vessels in water purification in rural India. (Prof Reed is now Professor of Biomedical Sciences at CQ University, Australia.)

Brass and copper containers for water purification in rural India

Dr Jean-Yves Maillard's research focuses on microbicides, an area of global importance due to the rise in healthcare-associated infections and emerging microbial resistance. Among his many research activities in this field, his group is developing an antimicrobial surface efficacy test, based on real conditions found in the hospital environment, to quantify the activity of a range of antimicrobial surfaces - including copper - against major pathogens including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile.  The work aims to provide an easy to use, cost effective and repeatable methodology for healthcare services to distinguish the activity of different commercially-available antimicrobial surfaces. this particular work is being funded by the Department of Health.  Dr Maillard is also on the British Standards Institute committee working to develop a suitable test for antimicrobial hard surfaces.

Biography and published papers

Dr John Holah is the Business Development Project Manager - Hygiene  at Campden BRI. Campden BRI is the UK's largest independent membership-based organisation carrying out research and development for the food and drinks industry worldwide. It is committed to providing industry with the research, technical and advisory services needed to ensure product safety and quality, process efficiency and product and process innovation.  The Hygiene team is a multi-departmental group that is researching the application of antimicrobial surfaces - including copper and its alloys - in the food industry.

The Hygiene team are also working in conjunction with other groups such as Universities, the BSI and CEN to develop testing methods. These aim to help the chemical industry validate the label claims of antibacterial surfaces and coatings, along with helping users, such as the food industry, understand how, when and for how long these materials are effective in practice.

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