Canada Partnering Award: Advancement of Genomic Tools to Study the Foodborne Transmission of Listeria monocytogenes
Lead Research Organisation:
QUADRAM INSTITUTE BIOSCIENCE
Department Name: Microbes in the Food Chain
Abstract
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Publications
| Description | The Partnering Award has served as collaborative catalyst with UKHSA to purse collaborative studies on the proof-of-concept of genomics and metagenomic technologies to better understand the nature of Listeria persistence in food production environments. Further, an international leadership role on Listeria has been recognised and the PI served as Chair of the 21st International Symposium on the Problems of Listeria and Listeriosis (ISOPOL), with multiple other members of the Partnering Award serving on the Scientific Planning Committee and also to provide invited oral and poster presentations. ISOPOL brings together the global Listeria research community and other food and health stakeholders to discuss new discoveries and opportunities to understand and control Listeria. Stakeholder groups that attended the 21st ISOPOL include representatives from food retailers, food hygiene / disinfection, food producers, food trade associations, public health, and food safety policy (nationally and internationally). Sessions were convened to discuss advances in food safety, gut health, the biology of listeriosis and ecology of Listeria, and other topics developed by the ISOPOL Scientific Committee. At the request of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes (Paris), the 21st ISOPOL co-hosted the 6th meeting of ISO TC 34 SC9 WG32 which develops microbiological methodologies for food system analyses of Listeria. Participants from the working group meeting also participated in ISOPOL, ensuring a broader participation of reference and company microbiologists in ISOPOL programming. Members of the Partnering Award will participate in this meeting as invited experts. A Canadian member of the partnering award was also invited and featured to present the Canadian workflow for Listeria public health genomics to the FSA Path-Safe Community Interaction Advisory Group Workstream 1a, to inform on the UK approach for integrated genomics implementation. |
| Exploitation Route | See impact narrative - routes to utilising genomics within food businesses are being roadmapped with industry stakeholders and government departments (e.g. Food Standards Agency) |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://quadram.ac.uk/events/isopol2024/ |
| Description | Knowledge translation and co-development of routes to impact are occurring with food businesses and government departments. For example, the PI was invited to present at Industry workshop ('Genomics Masterclass') preceding the 2023 Food Integrity Global conference. Topic: Genomics can provide an impressive depth of information on the microbes' present food production settings - including pathogens, spoilage organisms, and other environmental microbes. It is important that food businesses are given the opportunity to: engage on the use of genomics and trial these technologies in conjunction with existing screening procedures, to learn about the nature of the microbes present in production settings, and to be able to then use this information to act on microbial risks, if present. This session drew upon insights from recent collaborative studies with food businesses on how to practically use genomics to benefit the safety of foods they produce. The developed genomics workflows have now been published, with UKHSA co-authors (2025). A Canadian member of the partnering award was also invited and featured to present the Canadian workflow for Listeria public health genomics to the FSA Path-Safe Community Interaction Advisory Group Workstream 1a (in 2025), to inform on the UK approach for integrated genomics implementation. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Title | Listeria - benchmarking panel of international isolates |
| Description | A benchmarking panel of significant Listeria strains created by and contributed from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Quadram Institute. Strains represent key public health events and natural biological variants. |
| Type Of Material | Biological samples |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | A key enabling panel for studies within the UK - Canada international partnership |
| Description | Canada - UK Coalition on Listeria Genomics |
| Organisation | Government of Canada |
| Department | Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have assembled a multidisciplinary coalition of Canadian and UK experts that will seek to refine informatic tools and share ideas to address specific gaps on how Listeria genome and metagenome data are analysed. Our partnership will focus on finding and understanding the microbiota and genetic traits associated with biocide resistance, the formation of biofilms, and the transmission of Listeria through the food chain. The ideas and tools developed in this project will be presented and discussed with food safety stakeholders to aid in their impact. As co-chair of the coalition, we have organised and hosted a two-day project launch meeting that was held virtually between project participants. We devised a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and we have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners have attended and participated in our November 2021 virtual launch meeting and during the pre-event activities to identify research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. The project co-chair from Canada and an early career researcher from their team co-developed: a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Impact | Disciplines: microbiology, public health, bioinformatics, food safety, epidemiology Outputs: project launch meeting summary of proposed research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Canada - UK Coalition on Listeria Genomics |
| Organisation | Government of Canada |
| Department | Health Canada |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have assembled a multidisciplinary coalition of Canadian and UK experts that will seek to refine informatic tools and share ideas to address specific gaps on how Listeria genome and metagenome data are analysed. Our partnership will focus on finding and understanding the microbiota and genetic traits associated with biocide resistance, the formation of biofilms, and the transmission of Listeria through the food chain. The ideas and tools developed in this project will be presented and discussed with food safety stakeholders to aid in their impact. As co-chair of the coalition, we have organised and hosted a two-day project launch meeting that was held virtually between project participants. We devised a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and we have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners have attended and participated in our November 2021 virtual launch meeting and during the pre-event activities to identify research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. The project co-chair from Canada and an early career researcher from their team co-developed: a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Impact | Disciplines: microbiology, public health, bioinformatics, food safety, epidemiology Outputs: project launch meeting summary of proposed research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Canada - UK Coalition on Listeria Genomics |
| Organisation | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Department | National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have assembled a multidisciplinary coalition of Canadian and UK experts that will seek to refine informatic tools and share ideas to address specific gaps on how Listeria genome and metagenome data are analysed. Our partnership will focus on finding and understanding the microbiota and genetic traits associated with biocide resistance, the formation of biofilms, and the transmission of Listeria through the food chain. The ideas and tools developed in this project will be presented and discussed with food safety stakeholders to aid in their impact. As co-chair of the coalition, we have organised and hosted a two-day project launch meeting that was held virtually between project participants. We devised a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and we have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners have attended and participated in our November 2021 virtual launch meeting and during the pre-event activities to identify research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. The project co-chair from Canada and an early career researcher from their team co-developed: a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Impact | Disciplines: microbiology, public health, bioinformatics, food safety, epidemiology Outputs: project launch meeting summary of proposed research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Canada - UK Coalition on Listeria Genomics |
| Organisation | Public Health England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have assembled a multidisciplinary coalition of Canadian and UK experts that will seek to refine informatic tools and share ideas to address specific gaps on how Listeria genome and metagenome data are analysed. Our partnership will focus on finding and understanding the microbiota and genetic traits associated with biocide resistance, the formation of biofilms, and the transmission of Listeria through the food chain. The ideas and tools developed in this project will be presented and discussed with food safety stakeholders to aid in their impact. As co-chair of the coalition, we have organised and hosted a two-day project launch meeting that was held virtually between project participants. We devised a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and we have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners have attended and participated in our November 2021 virtual launch meeting and during the pre-event activities to identify research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. The project co-chair from Canada and an early career researcher from their team co-developed: a pre-event survey to identify broad research themes of interest, have synthesised the results of that survey for discussion during the launch meeting, and have subsequently prepared and distributed summaries of that launch meeting. |
| Impact | Disciplines: microbiology, public health, bioinformatics, food safety, epidemiology Outputs: project launch meeting summary of proposed research themes that promote the application of genomic sciences towards food safety challenges. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaborative agreement established with PHAC, HC and CFIA re: existing Canada-UK Listeria partnering award. |
| Organisation | Government of Canada |
| Department | Health Canada |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative agreement inclusive of MTA to support Canada-UK Listeria Partnership |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative agreement inclusive of MTA to support Canada-UK Listeria Partnership |
| Impact | collaborative agreement established 2023 |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaborative agreement established with PHAC, HC and CFIA re: existing Canada-UK Listeria partnering award. |
| Organisation | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Department | National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative agreement inclusive of MTA to support Canada-UK Listeria Partnership |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative agreement inclusive of MTA to support Canada-UK Listeria Partnership |
| Impact | collaborative agreement established 2023 |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Chair and host of the 21st International Symposium on Problems of Listeria and Listeriosis (ISOPOL). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Over four days from the 10th-13th September, the Quadram Institute hosted 200 delegates from 25 countries and 5 continents to the 21st International Symposium on Problems of Listeria and Listeriosis (ISOPOL). This diverse community meets every three years, and the Quadram-hosted symposium included esteemed researchers studying the cell biology of infection, multiple UK and global food businesses, national and international health and food safety authorities, and a multitude of early career researchers. The Quadram host (M Gilmour and his team) have received tremendous praise on the quality of the scientific programme and the networking and social events, as it was a goal of the symposium to highlight the rich microbiology in Norwich as well as the cultural gems of our fine city, such as the Norwich Cathedral (where the Welcome Reception was hosted). Sponsors of the event included BBSRC and the new Centre for Microbial Interactions, and BBSRC has been briefed on the success of the event, with outcomes including advanced evidence on using genomics and other microbiological indicators of pathogenesis within modern risk assessment exercises. Hosting ISOPOL also resulted in considerable reputational gain for Quadram as a convenor of food safety scientific fora, as well as promoting the formation of new connections with research collaborators and major food businesses. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://quadram.ac.uk/events/isopol2024/ |
| Description | Hosted 1-week visit of scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Advanced Genomics Unit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Support project planning and strategic connections on shared interests in genomics, bioinformatics, and metagenomics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | In-person Listeria meeting Winnipeg Canada |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A two-week visit (September 25th to October 6th, 2023) of the postdoctoral researcher Ana Victoria Gutierrez from the Quadram Institute, took place at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. This visit served as an enriching training and engagement opportunity, integral to advancing the objectives of the BBSRC UK-Canada Partnering Award. At the heart of this visit was the exchange of knowledge and expertise between the partnering institutes. Crucially, the meeting fostered the development of international collaborations in areas of mutual interest. By bringing together experts from diverse backgrounds, including the Division of Enteric Diseases, Science Technologies and Core Services Division, and the One Health Division, as well as specialized units such as the Special Bacteriology Unit, Streptococcus and STI Unit, Applied Genomics Innovation for Laboratory Excellence (AGILE), Phage BioBank, Bioforensics Assay Development and Diagnostics, and the National Reference Centre for Mycobacteriology, the partnership was able to capitalize on a wide range of expertise. Particular emphasis was placed on the Enteric Diseases Division, where discussions regarding Listeria were centered. The engagement with units such as the Advanced Genomics Unit, Innovation and Application Development Section, Reference and Diagnostic Services, Genomic Surveillance Platform, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, Genomics Core Unit, Computational and Operational Genomics, Data Sciences, Data Analytics and Algorithm Development, and Bioinformatics Pipelines Development proved to be invaluable in advancing the partnership's objectives. While the specific outcomes and impacts of this visit may still be unfolding, it undoubtedly laid a strong foundation for future collaboration. By leveraging the expertise and resources of both institutes, the partnership is poised to make significant strides in improving public health and food safety programs in both countries through the innovative use of Listeria genome and metagenome data. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | In-person Partnership Meeting Winnipeg Canada - Listeria Genomics - BBSRC UK-Canada Partnering Award |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Assembly our multidisciplinary coalition of Canadian and UK experts to progress work packages in the Partnership that advance the use of Listeria genome and metagenome data in public health and food safety programmes. This was the first in-person meeting of the partnership, held in Winnipeg Canda from 21st -23rd February at the National Microbiology Laboratory. Participants included scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada - Bureau of Microbial Hazards, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the UK Health Security Agency, and from the Quadram Institute. Quadram co-hosted with the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Listeria scientific community is relatively small compared to other foodborne pathogens, and by bringing together both Canadian and UK experts we know we made significant progress in establishing a tighter network that will form the basis of collaborative projects to progress public health, food safety and research objectives surrounding Listeria. The workshop provided a foundation for early career researchers from Canada and the UK to become mutually aware of the research programming at partner institutes, to provide summaries of their current projects, to develop international collaborations with researchers working in similar project areas, and to receive dedicated training following the core days of the workshop. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invite presentation on Listeria research and outcomes of engagement with industry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited research seminar at the University of Guelph / Agriculture Agrifood Canada |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Listeria project planning discussions with UKHSA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | January 2024 visit of Quadram's Listeria group (staff and students) to UKHSA Colindale to exchange knowledge and plan for conjoint projects on Listeria genomics, Metagenomics, food microbiology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Semi-annual Listeria Partnership meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | November 2023 in-person + virtual partnership meeting with PHAC, CFIA, Health Canada, and UKHSA members |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |