Dr. Brooke Hayes is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Nucleic acid sensing laboratory led by Snow Medical Fellow Dr. Gavin Knott. As part of a multidisciplinary team, Brooke is investigating the naturally existing bacterial defence system, CRISPR-Cas. Her research centres on the RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas13 system, aiming to enhance our structural and functional understanding of this potential in vitro technology. The ultimate goal is to develop innovative tools for rapid and sensitive diagnostics suitable for point-of-care applications.

Prior to this, Brooke completed her PhD in Microbiology at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. During her doctoral research, she focussed on characterisation of toxic effector proteins from the Acinetobacter baumannii Type VI Secretion system. The aim of this research was to determine how A. baumannii uses this system for inter-bacterial competition, and how we may manipulate or utilise this system for therapeutic use in the fight against increasing rates of antibiotic resistance.

Brooke has an overall strong interest in bacterial protein structure and function, with a keen focus on proteins with therapeutic potential against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and application in biotechnology.