ABOUT ME
EDUCATION
- University of Cambridge and The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK - Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, October 2010
- University of Natural Sciences at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - B.Sc. in Biotechnology, 2003
CURRENT RESEARCH THEMES
My research has focused on development and implementation of high-throughput functional genomics to investigate genes involved in bacterial virulence and the biology of multidrug resistance plasmids. I am one of the original inventors of the transposon directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS) technique at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK (Genome Research) and successfully transferred the methodology to the University of Queensland, Australia, establish it as the first in Australia capable of performing this innovative technology. I have applied TraDIS to study multiple pathogens, including Salmonella Typhi and Typhimurim, uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), Klebsiella pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In UPEC, I used TraDIS to to study multiple aspects of uropathogenic E. coli virulence, including serum resistance (PLoS Genetics), zinc resistance (PNAS), capsule regulation (MBio), polymixins resistance (JAC), cefotaxime resistance (JAC), and motility (PLoS One). A focus of my recent research has been the study of multidrug resistance plasmids. My works shed lights on the genetic requirement for plasmid replication and conjugation, including IncF plasmids (PloS One), IncC plasmids (Nature Microbiology) and I-complex plasmids (PLoS Genetics). Since 2017, my research has expanded to using next-generation sequencing to understand the population genetics of Vietnamese population (Human Mutation, Scientific reports), as well as cancer genomics (BMC cancer, Frontiers in Oncology, Bioinformatics).
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Conferences:
- BacPath (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
- Australian Society of Microbiology (2018)
- International Society of Plasmid Biology (2014, 2018, 2021)
- Infectious Disease Genomics & Global Health (2013)
- EMBO|EMBL Symposium New Approaches and Concepts in Microbiology (2013)
- Lorne Infection and Immunity (2012)
- Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms – Workshop for Researchers (2007, 2008 and 2009)
- Society for General Microbiology meeting (2008)
- Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) 47th (2007)
Invited talks:
- Vietnam School of Development (2021)
- Tan Tan University (2021)
Service to Profession:
- Curator of the plasmid MLST schemes for IncHI1 and IncC plasmids.
- Serve as reviewer for MGEN, mBio, Microbiology Spectrum, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, J Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Antiomicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy, BMC Infectious Diseases, Scientific Reports, PLoS One and J Infection in Developing Countries.
- Vice-chair of Australian Society of Microbiology Queensland branch (2018 – 2020).
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
TIMELINE
PUBLICATIONS
- Thanh Hải Phan, Thanh Xuân Jasmine, Thị Thanh Hương Trần, Đức Huy Trần, Bắc An Lương, Văn Thịnh Cao, Quang Huy Huỳnh, Thị Thanh Thủy Đỗ, Đình Kiệt Trương, Minh Duy Phan, Hoa Giang. XÂY DỰNG QUI TRÌNH SINH THIẾT LỎNG SPOT-MAS PHÁT HIỆN NHIỀU LOẠI UNG THƯ TỪ GIAI ĐOẠN SỚM.
- Anna S Amiss, Jessica B von Pein, Jessica R Webb, Nicholas D Condon, Peta J Harvey, Minh-Duy Phan, Mark A Schembri, Bart J Currie, Matthew J Sweet, David J Craik, Ronan Kapetanovic, Sónia Troeira Henriques, Nicole Lawrence. Modified horseshoe crab peptides target and kill bacteria inside host cells
- Huu Thinh Nguyen, Le Anh Khoa Huynh, Trieu Vu Nguyen, Duc Huy Tran, Thuy Thi Thu Tran, Nguyen Duy Khang Le, Ngoc-An Trinh Le, Truong-Vinh Ngoc Pham, Minh-Triet Le, Thi Mong Quynh Pham, Trong Hieu Nguyen, Thien Chi Van Nguyen, Thanh Dat Nguyen, Bui Que Tran Nguyen, Minh-Duy Phan, Hoa Giang, Le Son Tran. Multimodal analysis of ctDNA methylation and fragmentomic profiles enhances detection of nonmetastatic colorectal cancer
- David MP De Oliveira, Brian M Forde, Minh-Duy Phan, Bernhard Steiner, Bing Zhang, Johannes Zuegg, Ibrahim M El-Deeb, Gen Li, Nadia Keller, Stephan Brouwer, Nichaela Harbison-Price, Amanda J Cork, Michelle J Bauer, Saleh F Alquethamy, Scott A Beatson, Jason A Roberts, David L Paterson, Alastair G McEwan, Mark AT Blaskovich, Mark A Schembri, Christopher A McDevitt, Mark von Itzstein, Mark J Walker. Rescuing tetracycline class Antibiotics for the treatment of multidrug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii pulmonary infection
- Phan MD, Peters KM, Alvarez Fraga L, Wallis SC, Hancock SJ, Nhu NTK, Forde BM, Bauer MJ, Paterson DL, Beatson SA, Lipman J and Schembri MA (2022). Plasmid-Mediated Ciprofloxacin Resistance Imparts a Selective Advantage on Escherichia coli ST131. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 66(1): e0214621. Discovery that aac(6’)-Ib-cr gene can increase the MIC to ciprofloxacin 2-4 times even in resistant strains carrying chromosomal mutations in gyrA and parC genes.
- Phan MD, Bottomley AL, Peters KM, Harry EJ, and Schembri MA (2020). Uncovering novel susceptibility targets to enhance the efficacy of third-generation cephalosporins against ESBL- producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli. J Antimicrob Chemother 75(6):1415-23. Application of TraDIS to identify genes required for survival of third-generation cephalosporins treatment.
- Hancock SJ, Phan MD*, Luo Z, Lo AW, Peters KM, Nhu NTK, Forde BM, Whitfield J, Yang J, Strugnell RA, Paterson DL, Walsh TR, Kobe B, Beatson SA, and Schembri MA (2020). Comprehensive analysis of IncC plasmid conjugation identifies a crucial role for the transcriptional regulator AcaB. Nat Microbiol doi:10.1038/s41564-020-0775-0. Application of TraDIS to identify all genes required for IncC plasmid conjugation and define the structure - function properties of AcaB, of a novel regulator, as a controlling element of this process.
- Stocks CJ, Phan MD, Achard MES, Nhu NTK, Condon ND, Gawthorne JA, Lo AW, Peters KM, McEwan AG, Kapetanovic R, Schembri MA and Sweet MJ (2019). Uropathogenic Escherichia coli employs both evasion and resistance to subvert innate immune-mediated zinc toxicity for dissemination. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(13): 6341-6350. Demonstrated that UPEC both evades and resists innate immune-mediated zinc toxicity to persist and disseminate within the host. Moreover, we have defined the set of UPEC genes conferring zinc resistance and have developed highly selective E. coli reporter systems to track zinc toxicity.
- Hancock SJ, Phan MD*, Peters KM, Forde BM, Chong TM, Yin WF, Chan KG, Paterson DL, Walsh TR, Beatson SA, Schembri MA (2017). Identification of IncA/C plasmid replication and maintenance genes and development of a plasmid multilocus sequence typing scheme. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 61: e01740-01716. Application of saturated Tn5 transposon mutagenesis in combination with TraDIS to identify genes required for IncA/C plasmid replication and maintenance. We devised a new high-resolution plasmid multi-locus sequencing typing scheme for IncA/C plasmids that can be used to monitor their transmission. I played a major role in the supervision of the first author (PhD student Steven Hancock).
