Biography Timothy Kidd
Timothy Kidd is a talented researcher and one of 12 students funded by the Australian CF Research Trust Fund. He is taking a moment out from his busy schedule to answer some of our questions.
Timothy Kidd graduated as a laboratory technician from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 1992. He was employed by the Microbiology Department at the Mater Hospital (Brisbane) from 1993 to 1997, where he commenced his BSc at QUT on part time basis. In 1997 he was promoted to a scientific position within The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH). In addition, in 2002 he was awarded his first research grant to develop a molecular reference centre for complex organisms in Australia.
In 2006 he moved to the Pathology Queensland Central Laboratory where he was involved in development of several new DNA-based bacterial identification and strain typing techniques. In 2007 Timothy was appointed to the position of Project Coordinator for the NHMRC funded Australian Clonal Pseudomonas in CF Study. In conjunction with his research appointment he commenced PhD studies with the School of Medicine, University of Queensland in 2008.
In addition to fishing for bacteria, Tim is also a very keen angler who loves spending time out in his boat. He also thoroughly enjoys cooking and watching the cricket.
You started with a background in Microbiology/Biotechnology. Based on this background, were you always planning to be in the role you find yourself in?
Throughout my undergraduate university courses I was particularly fond of microbiology and the study of genetics. Soon after university I was employed as a technician/scientist within two hospitals that treated patients with CF. From these experiences my interest and expertise in this field grew tremendously, such that I have been involved on part-time basis with CF research for almost ten years. Three years ago I was given the chance to conduct CF research on a full time basis (plus do a PhD) and I jumped at the opportunity.
Can you tell us in simple terms a little about the research you are currently working on?
Currently I am working on understanding the ecology, acquisition, and clinical implications of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in CF. P. aeruginosa is a common environmental organism which can also infect people with and without CF as well as animals. What we don’t know is how these related strains are acquired, how many patients are infected with them, and the similarity of them. I am comparing the genetic makeup of P. aeruginosa collected from persons with and without CF, environmental sources, and a range of different animals (e.g. dogs, possums, and even a koala).
Why is your research important for people with Cystic Fibrosis?
This work is important for furthering our understanding of the extent of spread of P. aeruginosa between patients, the factors that influence its spread, and the development of effective infection control policies. In nutshell, we would like to reduce these infections in CF so that patients may live a longer, happier, and healthier life.
Your research represents a major component for the future management of the health of those with CF. Did you choose this line of research specifically because of CF? If so – why?
Yes I did –I have spent many hours studying the bacteria from people with CF, and now I figure it’s time to put these special skills into trying to prevent these infections. In addition, I also find the CF community (i.e. patients, families, doctors, nurses, allied health staff, scientists, CF Australia, etc, etc, etc) to be fantastic bunch of people to work with.
Dr. Scott Bell is your supervisor considered one of the foremost doctors studying Cystic Fibrosis. Do you see yourself in a similar role in the future?
Although I am not a medical doctor, I sincerely hope that I can continue to develop my professional skills to become one of the leading scientists in this field. Most importantly though, I hope that whatever scientific endeavours I may achieve are translated into the overall health improvement of people with CF.
Last question: when you do research do scientists really wear those white jackets around the lab and spend all their time looking through microscopes?
Almost right! We certainly wear white (& sometimes blue) jackets around the lab, but these days we spend most of our time staring at DNA sequences and fingerprints on computer screens rather down the old microscope. Suffice to say we still have a microscope here in our lab which we sometimes pull the cobwebs off and use.
