Dr Shivani Pasricha is a postdoctoral fellow and the lab manager of Assoc. Prof Deborah Williamson’s laboratory in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She is part of a team that uses genomic approaches to improve the surveillance and diagnostics of antimicrobial resistant pathogens. Her specific research interests include understanding the dissemination dynamics of sexually transmitted infections and using metagenomics to answer questions of clinical importance.
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Key Achievements
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Shivani was awarded her PhD from the Genetics Department at the University of Melbourne. During her candidature, Shivani published several first author research articles and received multiple travel scholarships. The objective of her PhD was to identify differences between nonpathogenic and pathogenic growth forms of the fungus, Talaromyces marneffei using multi-omic approaches. In 2014, Shivani was appointed as the Head of the Legionella research node within Prof. Elizabeth Hartland’s laboratory. In this role she supervised three PhD students to completion and received the University of Melbourne ECR Research Grant (2016), Lorne Infection and Immunity conference career development award (2017) and the Next Big Idea Pitch award from the Hudson Institute (2018). Shivani has served on numerous advisory groups and committees and has presented her research at both national and international research conferences.
Publications
Research Groups
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Williamson group
The Williamson research group focuses on the development and evaluation of new diagnostic tests, and the translation of genomic technologies to infectious diseases. Their research has directly influenced the way microbiology is applied to clinical practice and public health, including responses to antimicrobial resistance, sexually-transmitted pathogens and COVID-19.
Lab Team

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Postdoctoral Fellow and Lab Manager
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NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
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Postdoctoral Research Officer (Bioinformatics)
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Dr Marilyn Ninan
Research Fellow
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Dr Eike Steinig
Research Fellow (Bioinformatics)
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Dr Soo Jen Low
Research Officer (Bioinformatics)
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George Taiaroa
Research Fellow
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Jacqueline Prestedge
Research Program Officer
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Socheata Chea
Research Support Officer
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Bowen Zhang
Research Support Officer
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Cheryll Sia
PhD Graduate Researcher
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Dr Eloise Williams
PhD Graduate Researcher
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Dr Katherine Bond
PhD Graduate Researcher
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Dr Charlotte Bell
PhD Graduate Researcher
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Franca Azzato
PhD Graduate Researcher
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Sophie Herman
Research Assistant
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Mona Lisa Taouk
Research Assistant