Dr Amy Pickering on bacterial infections

What led you to a career in science? 

I did a four-year Biomedical Sciences integrated masters at the University of Newcastle, and chose to focus on microbiology, biochemistry, and immunology-related courses. I’ve always known that microbiology was my thing. For me it’s a love of hidden complexity, such as the tiny details you see in flowers when you look really closely. My mother was a clinical microbiologist, so I likely inherited my interest in bacteria from her. 

I came to Roslin for a PhD, starting in 2011, in Professor Ross Fitzgerald’s research group. I was working with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, bacteria that cause skin infections in dogs, and investigating adaptation of the bacteria to the canine host. I made the first mutant strain of this bacteria, which was a lot of work, but I’ve always liked that I was the first to do that. 

After my PhD I became a core scientist, supporting everyone in the group. I am engaged in everything that’s going on, it’s collaborative, while having my own projects as well. It’s a really lovely role. 

I enjoy troubleshooting and coming up with solutions. Discovering new, novel things– that’s what drives me. For example, a project I’m working on is about bovine mastitis and we’ve found insights into how Staphylococcus aureus bacteria grow in milk– that’s something no-one has found before.  

You’ve been awarded a three-year BBSRC post-doctoral fellowship. What will you focus on? 

I’m going to be moving to Professor Jayne Hope’s group in the immunology division at Roslin. I’m investigating how Staphylococcus aureus causes mastitis in sheep, specifically how they make abscesses, which is a key feature of the disease. It lends really well to my background.  

I want to identify which bacterial factors are needed for abscess formation, and to see how the bacteria interact with immune cells from sheep. These bacteria want to make abscesses, but they can’t do it without the immune cells –there’s a lot of interaction between the two – so I want to try to approach it from both angles to inform vaccine development.  

Mastitis leads to annual UK sheep losses of roughly 650,000, so from a welfare and sustainability point of view, it’s important that we make the sheep farming system more efficient. Developing a novel vaccine that prevents S. aureus-mediated sheep mastitis could also inform vaccine development in cows, where mastitis has an even higher economic burden.  

How was the fellowship application experience? 

There are so many aspects to a fellowship that you have to think about when applying: it has to be something you really want to do, you have to prove that you have the skills to complete it to a really high standard, and that the fellowship fits really well in the place that you’ve chosen. I’m really grateful that I received a lot of support with the application from colleagues. 

The application process is extensive, very comprehensive and stressful. When I was invited to an interview, I was excited to have got to that stage. The support I had at Roslin to prepare was amazing, from successful fellows and principal investigators. That gave me confidence going in to interview. Afterwards I thought I’d done well, so it was a relief to hear that I’d been successful.  

What other challenges have you faced? 

I try to take feedback subjectively. There’s a lot of criticism in science. When you have a publication out for review, you have to expect that reviewers are trying to find holes in it. It’s part of the process. Not taking that personally is important.  

I’m expecting a second child, and I’ll be taking a break from my fellowship to go on parental leave. You can plan for having a child as much as you like, but there are so many things you can’t predict, you just have to make it work. I’m sure I will be supported, and I’m looking forward to my fellowship, but I’ll have to put it on pause for now. 

Your experience includes a lot of time supporting others. What do you get out of that? 

My job as a core scientist is to support others in the lab – that’s how I see the role.  

I enjoy teaching and encouraging others, including in my public engagement work. I enjoy getting high school students into the lab, because they love seeing all the different things that we’re doing. Their enthusiasm is refreshing, and a reminder that I’m privileged to be here.  

What is your scientific ambition? 

I want to have a happy team where the research culture is spot-on, people feel they can bring problems to me, we have a collaborative approach, and collectively we are making a big change. I think there can be too much pressure on individuals to create a big change, but as a collective we can achieve more. 

What might you be doing, if not this? 

I’d probably be more of an engineer, but still using science, perhaps biochemical engineering. Or maybe I’d be more like my sister, who is an actuary, and make more use of maths in what I do. I have a strong Christian faith, so if I wasn’t a scientist I’d also consider getting more involved in the church. 

The common thread for me though is wanting to help others – that collaborative side to me. In science I can think too much about the work and not enough about the people, whereas on my religious side, the people are the most important thing – all that matters is that we treat people well.