Associate Professor Scott Beatson
Associate Professor

Scott Beatson

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 54863

Background

Scott Beatson is an Associate Professor and NHMRC Career Development Fellow at The University of Queensland (UQ). He specializes in bacterial pathogenomics: using whole-genome sequencing to investigate transmission, pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Recent work from his group includes genomic analyses of pandrug resistant enterobacteriaceae and the multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 pandemic clone. He was awarded a PhD from UQ for his work in bacterial pathogenesis in 2002 and developed his career in bacterial genomics in the United Kingdom with the support of fellowships from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (University of Oxford) and the UK Medical Research Council (University of Birmingham). Since returning to Australia he has held fellowships from both the NHMRC and ARC and has led a successful research group in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at UQ since 2008. He is also a member of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre and the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics. In 2016 he received the Frank Fenner Award from the Australian Society for Microbiology in recognition of his contribution to microbiology research in Australia.

Availability

Associate Professor Scott Beatson is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Bacteriology Biological Sciences Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Epigenetics (incl. genome methylation and epigenomics) Genetics Genomics Infectious agents Medical microbiology Microbial genetics Microbiology Molecular evolution Phylogeny and comparative analysis

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science, University of Otago
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, University of Otago
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, The University of Manchester

Research impacts

In the past five years the Beatson Lab has focussed on clinically relevant pathogens and exploiting genomic technologies in the clinical setting. His group regularly reports the genome analyses of antibiotic resistant bacteria to the major tertiary hospitals in Brisbane as part of Queensland Genomics. He is the senior author of a phylogenomic study of E. coli ST131 in PNAS (2014; 312 citations), and joint first author of a landmark publication on the E. coli O157 genome (2006; 413 citations). Genome analysis software developed in his group is widely used i.e. BRIG (2011; 1026 citations) and EasyFig (2011; 756 citations). Since 1998 he has co-authored more than 120 journal articles (9756 citations), including 61 in the past 5 years and 43 with greater than 50 citations (Google Scholar 22/08/19). He regularly publishes in high-impact, general interest or specialist medical/microbiology journals including Science, PNAS, Clin Infect Dis, Nat Commun and MBio.

Search Professor Scott Beatson’s works on UQ eSpace

186 works between 1998 and 2025
All (186) Journal Article (169) Conference Publication (12) Other Outputs (5)

21 - 40 of 186 works

2022

Journal Article

Ucl fimbriae regulation and glycan receptor specificity contribute to gut colonisation by extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli

Hancock, Steven J., Lo, Alvin W., Ve, Thomas, Day, Christopher J., Tan, Lendl, Mendez, Alejandra A., Phan, Minh-Duy, Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh, Peters, Kate M., Richards, Amanda C., Fleming, Brittany A., Chang, Chyden, Ngu, Dalton H. Y., Forde, Brian M., Haselhorst, Thomas, Goh, Kelvin G. K., Beatson, Scott A., Jennings, Michael P., Mulvey, Matthew A., Kobe, Bostjan and Schembri, Mark A. (2022). Ucl fimbriae regulation and glycan receptor specificity contribute to gut colonisation by extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli. PLoS Pathogens , 18 (6) e1010582, e1010582. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010582

Ucl fimbriae regulation and glycan receptor specificity contribute to gut colonisation by extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli

2022

Journal Article

Phase variation in the glycosyltransferase genes of Pasteurella multocida associated with outbreaks of fowl cholera on free-range layer farms

Omaleki, Lida, Blackall, Patrick J., Cuddihy, Thom, White, Rhys T., Courtice, Jodi M., Turni, Conny, Forde, Brian M. and Beatson, Scott A. (2022). Phase variation in the glycosyltransferase genes of Pasteurella multocida associated with outbreaks of fowl cholera on free-range layer farms. Microbial Genomics, 8 (3) 000772. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000772

Phase variation in the glycosyltransferase genes of Pasteurella multocida associated with outbreaks of fowl cholera on free-range layer farms

2022

Journal Article

A high-quality reference genome for the fish pathogen Streptococcus iniae

Alsheikh-Hussain, Areej S., Ben Zakour, Nouri L., Forde, Brian M., Rudenko, Oleksandra, Barnes, Andrew C. and Beatson, Scott A. (2022). A high-quality reference genome for the fish pathogen Streptococcus iniae. Microbial Genomics, 8 (3) 000777. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000777

A high-quality reference genome for the fish pathogen Streptococcus iniae

2022

Journal Article

Differential Afa/Dr fimbriae expression in the multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone

Alvarez-Fraga, Laura, Phan, Minh-Duy, Goh, Kelvin G. K., Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh, Hancock, Steven J., Allsopp, Luke P., Peters, Kate M., Forde, Brian M., Roberts, Leah W., Sullivan, Matthew J., Totsika, Makrina, Beatson, Scott A., Ulett, Glen C. and Schembri, Mark A. (2022). Differential Afa/Dr fimbriae expression in the multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone. mBio, 13 (1) e03519, e0351921. doi: 10.1128/mbio.03519-21

Differential Afa/Dr fimbriae expression in the multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone

2022

Journal Article

Plasmid-mediated ciprofloxacin resistance imparts a selective advantage on Escherichia coli ST131

Phan, Minh-Duy, Peters, Kate M., Alvarez Fraga, Laura, Wallis, Steven C., Hancock, Steven, Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh, Forde, Brian, Bauer, Michelle J., Paterson, David L., Beatson, Scott A, Lipman, Jeffrey and Schembri, Mark A. (2022). Plasmid-mediated ciprofloxacin resistance imparts a selective advantage on Escherichia coli ST131. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 66 (1) e02146-21, 1-11. doi: 10.1128/aac.02146-21

Plasmid-mediated ciprofloxacin resistance imparts a selective advantage on Escherichia coli ST131

2022

Journal Article

Rescuing Tetracycline Class Antibiotics for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Pulmonary Infection

De Oliveira, David M. P., Forde, Brian M., Phan, Minh-Duy, Steiner, Bernhard, Zhang, Bing, Zuegg, Johannes, El-deeb, Ibrahim M., Li, Gen, Keller, Nadia, Brouwer, Stephan, Harbison-Price, Nichaela, Cork, Amanda J., Bauer, Michelle J., Alquethamy, Saleh F., Beatson, Scott A., Roberts, Jason A., Paterson, David L., McEwan, Alastair G., Blaskovich, Mark A. T., Schembri, Mark A., McDevitt, Christopher A., von Itzstein, Mark and Walker, Mark J. (2022). Rescuing Tetracycline Class Antibiotics for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Pulmonary Infection. mBio, 13 (1) e03517, e0351721. doi: 10.1128/mbio.03517-21

Rescuing Tetracycline Class Antibiotics for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Pulmonary Infection

2022

Journal Article

CATHAI: cluster analysis tool for healthcare-associated infections

Cuddihy, Thom, Harris, Patrick N. A., Permana, Budi, Beatson, Scott A. and Forde, Brian M. (2022). CATHAI: cluster analysis tool for healthcare-associated infections. Bioinformatics Advances, 2 (1) vbac040, vbac040. doi: 10.1093/bioadv/vbac040

CATHAI: cluster analysis tool for healthcare-associated infections

2021

Journal Article

Characterisation of DtrJ as an IncC plasmid conjugative DNA transfer component

Hancock, Steven J., Phan, Minh‐Duy, Roberts, Leah, Vu, Thu Ngoc Minh, Harris, Patrick N.A., Beatson, Scott A. and Schembri, Mark A. (2021). Characterisation of DtrJ as an IncC plasmid conjugative DNA transfer component. Molecular Microbiology, 116 (1), 154-167. doi: 10.1111/mmi.14697

Characterisation of DtrJ as an IncC plasmid conjugative DNA transfer component

2021

Journal Article

MicroPIPE: validating an end-to-end workflow for high-quality complete bacterial genome construction

Murigneux, Valentine, Roberts, Leah W., Forde, Brian M., Phan, Minh-Duy, Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh, Irwin, Adam D., Harris, Patrick N. A., Paterson, David L., Schembri, Mark A., Whiley, David M. and Beatson, Scott A. (2021). MicroPIPE: validating an end-to-end workflow for high-quality complete bacterial genome construction. BMC Genomics, 22 (1) 474, 474. doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-07767-z

MicroPIPE: validating an end-to-end workflow for high-quality complete bacterial genome construction

2021

Journal Article

Optimising treatment outcomes for children and adults through rapid genome sequencing of sepsis pathogens. A study protocol for a prospective, multi-centre trial (DIRECT)

Irwin, Adam D., Coin, Lachlan J. M., Harris, Patrick N. A., Cotta, Menino Osbert, Bauer, Michelle J., Buckley, Cameron, Balch, Ross, Kruger, Peter, Meyer, Jason, Shekar, Kiran, Brady, Kara, Fourie, Cheryl, Sharp, Natalie, Vlad, Luminita, Whiley, David, Beatson, Scott A., Forde, Brian M., Paterson, David, Clark, Julia, Hajkowicz, Krispin, Raman, Sainath, Bialasiewicz, Seweryn, Lipman, Jeffrey, Schlapbach, Luregn J. and Roberts, Jason A. (2021). Optimising treatment outcomes for children and adults through rapid genome sequencing of sepsis pathogens. A study protocol for a prospective, multi-centre trial (DIRECT). Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 11 667680, 1-8. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.667680

Optimising treatment outcomes for children and adults through rapid genome sequencing of sepsis pathogens. A study protocol for a prospective, multi-centre trial (DIRECT)

2021

Conference Publication

Molecular epidemiology of clinical and colonising methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus isolates in companion animals.

Rynhoud, H., Forde, B.M., Beatson, S.A., Abraham, S., Meler, E., Soares Magalhães, R.J. and Gibson, J.S. (2021). Molecular epidemiology of clinical and colonising methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus isolates in companion animals. . Australian Society for Microbiology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 31 May-3 June 2021.

Molecular epidemiology of clinical and colonising methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus isolates in companion animals.

2021

Journal Article

Molecular Epidemiology of Clinical and Colonizing Methicillin-Resistant Isolates in Companion Animals

Rynhoud, Hester, Forde, Brian M., Beatson, Scott A., Abraham, Sam, Meler, Erika, Soares Magalhães, Ricardo J. and Gibson, Justine S. (2021). Molecular Epidemiology of Clinical and Colonizing Methicillin-Resistant Isolates in Companion Animals. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8 620491, 620491. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.620491

Molecular Epidemiology of Clinical and Colonizing Methicillin-Resistant Isolates in Companion Animals

2021

Journal Article

Genomic surveillance, characterization and intervention of a polymicrobial multidrug-resistant outbreak in critical care

Roberts, Leah W., Forde, Brian M., Hurst, Trish, Ling, Weiping, Nimmo, Graeme R., Bergh, Haakon, George, Narelle, Hajkowicz, Krispin, McNamara, John F., Lipman, Jeffrey, Permana, Budi, Schembri, Mark A., Paterson, David, Beatson, Scott A. and Harris, Patrick N. A. (2021). Genomic surveillance, characterization and intervention of a polymicrobial multidrug-resistant outbreak in critical care. Microbial Genomics, 7 (3) 000530. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000530

Genomic surveillance, characterization and intervention of a polymicrobial multidrug-resistant outbreak in critical care

2021

Journal Article

Emergence and impact of oprD mutations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in cystic fibrosis

Sherrard, Laura J., Wee, Bryan A., Duplancic, Christine, Ramsay, Kay A., Dave, Keyur A., Ballard, Emma, Wainwright, Claire E., Grimwood, Keith, Sidjabat, Hanna E., Whiley, David M., Beatson, Scott A., Kidd, Timothy J. and Bell, Scott C. (2021). Emergence and impact of oprD mutations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, 21 (1), e35-e43. doi: 10.1016/j.jcf.2021.03.007

Emergence and impact of oprD mutations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in cystic fibrosis

2020

Journal Article

Repurposing a neurodegenerative disease drug to treat Gram-negative antibiotic-resistant bacterial sepsis

De Oliveira, David M. P., Bohlmann, Lisa, Conroy, Trent, Jen, Freda E.-C., Everest-Dass, Arun, Hansford, Karl A., Bolisetti, Raghu, El-Deeb, Ibrahim M., Forde, Brian M., Phan, Minh-Duy, Lacey, Jake A., Tan, Aimee, Rivera-Hernandez, Tania, Brouwer, Stephan, Keller, Nadia, Kidd, Timothy J., Cork, Amanda J., Bauer, Michelle J., Cook, Gregory M., Davies, Mark R., Beatson, Scott A., Paterson, David L., McEwan, Alastair G., Li, Jian, Schembri, Mark A., Blaskovich, Mark A. T., Jennings, Michael P., McDevitt, Christopher A., von Itzstein, Mark and Walker, Mark J. (2020). Repurposing a neurodegenerative disease drug to treat Gram-negative antibiotic-resistant bacterial sepsis. Science Translational Medicine, 12 (570) abb3791, eabb3791. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb3791

Repurposing a neurodegenerative disease drug to treat Gram-negative antibiotic-resistant bacterial sepsis

2020

Journal Article

Association between minimum inhibitory concentration, beta-lactamase genes and mortality for patients treated with piperacillin/tazobactam or meropenem from the MERINO study

Henderson, A., Paterson, D. L., Chatfield, M. D., Tambyah, P. A., Lye, D. C., De, P. P., Lin, R. T. P., Chew, K. L., Yin, M., Lee, T. H., Yilmaz, M., Cakmak, R., Alenazi, T. H., Arabi, Y. M., Falcone, M., Bassetti, M., Righi, E., Rogers, B.A., Kanj, S. S., Bhally, H., Iredell, J., Mendelson, M., Boyles, T. H., Looke, D. F. M., Runnegar, N. J., Miyakis, S., Walls, G., AI Khamis, M., Zikri, A. ... For the MERINO Trial Investigators and the Australasian Society for Infectious Disease Clinical Research Network (ASID-CRN) (2020). Association between minimum inhibitory concentration, beta-lactamase genes and mortality for patients treated with piperacillin/tazobactam or meropenem from the MERINO study. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 73 (11), e3842-e3850. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1479

Association between minimum inhibitory concentration, beta-lactamase genes and mortality for patients treated with piperacillin/tazobactam or meropenem from the MERINO study

2020

Journal Article

Outbreak of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Shigella flexneri in northern Australia due to an endemic regional clone acquiring an IncFII plasmid

Guglielmino, Christine J. D., Kakkanat, Asha, Forde, Brian M., Rubenach, Sally, Merone, Lea, Stafford, Russell, Graham, Rikki M. A., Beatson, Scott A. and Jennison, Amy V. (2020). Outbreak of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Shigella flexneri in northern Australia due to an endemic regional clone acquiring an IncFII plasmid. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 40 (2), 279-286. doi: 10.1007/s10096-020-04029-w

Outbreak of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Shigella flexneri in northern Australia due to an endemic regional clone acquiring an IncFII plasmid

2020

Journal Article

Companion animals are spillover hosts of the multidrug-resistant human extraintestinal Escherichia coli pandemic clones ST131 and ST1193

Kidsley, Amanda K., White, Rhys T., Beatson, Scott A., Saputra, Sugiyono, Schembri, Mark A., Gordon, David, Johnson, James R., O’Dea, Mark, Mollinger, Joanne L., Abraham, Sam and Trott, Darren J. (2020). Companion animals are spillover hosts of the multidrug-resistant human extraintestinal Escherichia coli pandemic clones ST131 and ST1193. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11 1968, 1968. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01968

Companion animals are spillover hosts of the multidrug-resistant human extraintestinal Escherichia coli pandemic clones ST131 and ST1193

2020

Journal Article

Comprehensive analysis of IncC plasmid conjugation identifies a crucial role for the transcriptional regulator AcaB

Hancock, Steven J., Phan, Minh-Duy, Luo, Zhenyao, Lo, Alvin W., Peters, Kate M., Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh, Forde, Brian M., Whitfield, Jason, Yang, Ji, Strugnell, Richard A., Paterson, David L., Walsh, Timothy R., Kobe, Bostjan, Beatson, Scott A. and Schembri, Mark A. (2020). Comprehensive analysis of IncC plasmid conjugation identifies a crucial role for the transcriptional regulator AcaB. Nature Microbiology, 5 (11), 1340-1348. doi: 10.1038/s41564-020-0775-0

Comprehensive analysis of IncC plasmid conjugation identifies a crucial role for the transcriptional regulator AcaB

2020

Journal Article

Fatal respiratory diphtheria caused by ß-lactam–resistant corynebacterium diphtheriae

Forde, Brian M., Henderson, Andrew, Playford, Elliott G., Looke, David, Henderson, Belinda C., Watson, Catherine, Steen, Jason A., Sidjabat, Hanna E., Laurie, Gordon, Muttaiyah, Sharmini, Nimmo, Graeme R., Lampe, Guy, Smith, Helen, Jennison, Amy V., McCall, Brad, Carroll, Heidi, Cooper, Matthew A., Paterson, David L. and Beatson, Scott A. (2020). Fatal respiratory diphtheria caused by ß-lactam–resistant corynebacterium diphtheriae. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 73 (11), e4531-e4538. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1147

Fatal respiratory diphtheria caused by ß-lactam–resistant corynebacterium diphtheriae

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2027
    Next-generation genomic disease surveillance in urban wastewater systems (ARC Discovery Projects administered by University of Technology Sydney)
    University of Technology Sydney
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2021 - 2024
    Australian Pathogen Genomics (AusPathoGen) Program (MRFF Genomics Health Futures Mission, Flagships administered by University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant
  • 2020
    Rapid detection of resistance genes from Gram-negative bacteria isolated from blood in ICU-admitted patients
    Pathology Queensland - Study, Education & Research Trust Fund
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Virulence and detection of Escherichia coli that cause neonatal meningitis
    The Children's Hospital Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    Cluster randomised trial of a multimodal intervention to reduce antimicrobial use in residential aged care facilities
    NHMRC MRFF - Antimicrobial Resistance Targeted Call for Research
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    Integrated bacterial genomics and virulence analysis of uropathogenic Streptococcus agalactiae (NHMRC Project Grant led by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2020
    Epigenetic regulation in bacteria
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016
    Instrumentation for the analysis of cellular and metabolic phenotypes
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Bacterial Pathogenomics: whole-genome sequencing to investigate infection transmission, pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance
    NHMRC Career Development Fellowship
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2018
    Superbugs and veterinary drugs: Are multidrug-resistant zoonotic pathogens residing in Australian animals? (ARC Linkage Project administered by University of Adelaide)
    University of Adelaide
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2017
    A pan-genome reverse vaccinology approach to disease prevention in farmed fish
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2018
    Functional and genomic analysis of the globally disseminated multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2015
    Smarter fermentations through starter culture genomics
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2015
    Evolution and pathogenicity of NDM-1 positive Escherichia coli
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2012
    ResTeach Funding 2012 0.2 FTE School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
    UQ ResTeach
    Open grant
  • 2011
    Cell culture facilities for studying host-pathogen interactions and immune function
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    Escherichia coli ST131: an emerging pathogen
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2013
    Adhesins of uropathogenic Escherichia coli.
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2009
    Genomics as a tool to study P aeruginosa lung disease in cystic fibrosis
    Australian Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2011
    Evolution and function of a novel lateral flagellar locus, Flag-2, in pathogenic Escherichia coli (NHMRC Project grant administered by the University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant
  • 2009
    Infrastructure for biochemistry and infectious disease resarch in molecualr biosciences
    UQ School/Centre Co-Funding
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2011
    Molecular basis of asymptomatic colonization of the human urinary tract
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2011
    ResTeach 2009 0.2 FTE School of Chemical and Molecular Biosciences
    Open grant
  • 2008 - 2012
    The evolution of bacterial pathogenesis: a genomic approach
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2008
    Understanding staphylococcal urinary tract infections: a comparative genomics approach
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2006 - 2007
    The complete genome sequence of asymptomatic bacteriuria 'Escherichia coli' strain VR50
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2007
    NHMRC Howard Florey Fellowship: Bacterial Pathogenesis: A Genomic Approach
    NHMRC Career Development Award
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Scott Beatson is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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