Inaugural Professorial Lecture – Professor Peter Fineran

About Professor Fineran's research.

Peter is a molecular microbiologist whose research aims to understand the interactions between viruses that infect bacteria (phages), antibiotic resistance plasmids, and their bacterial hosts. These interactions are significant contributors to important processes ranging from global nutrient cycles to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance.

He has built an internationally-recognised team and is a world leader in bacterial defence mechanisms, particularly the CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems. CRISPR-Cas systems have recently been harnessed as biotechnological tools for genome editing, with far-reaching applications in health and agriculture.

Peter undertook his PhD and post-doctoral training at the University of Cambridge, UK, before establishing his group at Otago. He has published over 70 papers and is a former recipient of a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, multiple Marsden Fund grants, and numerous national and international research awards, including the 2019 Fleming Prize from the Microbiology Society, UK.