Meet the team

Prof. Katie Laird (Co-Founder of A Germ's Journey) is a Professor in Microbiology in the School of Pharmacy and Head of the Infectious Disease Research Group at De Montfort University. She has a BSc (Hons) in Biology and obtained a PhD in applied microbiology in 2008.

Prof. Sarah Younie (Co-Founder of A Germ's Journey) is Professor of Education Innovation at De Montfort University. Prof. Younie has been involved in international and national teaching and research for thirty years. She is a founder member of MESH (Mapping Education Specialist KnowHow) project.

Dr. Richard Procter is a Lecturer at De Montfort University. His research interests include education, technology and assessment.

Sapphire Crosby is a PhD Education student and began working on the project as a Research Assistant in 2016 whilst completing an MA. Working alongside the project's Co-Founders, her research focuses on the co-creation and evaluation of the A Germ's Journey resources.

Charlie Evans is a graphic designer, part-time lecturer and DMU alumni. She has been working as part of the team since the beginning of the project back in 2014 as an illustrator and creator, through DMU Frontrunners and has continued working freelance on the project since graduating.

Charlie Firth is a Masters by Research student at De Montfort University. Charlie became part of the project in January 2019 during a trip to India and has since joined the team as the Media and Communications Officer, managing media campaigns as well as the Germ’s Journey social media.

Joseph Glover became part of the project during our first trip to India in 2017 whilst studying an English Language Teaching MA at De Montfort University. He has since joined us on another trip to India, as well as Sierra Leone and a number of school visits in the UK. Now a graduate, he is the Community Engagement Officer and is also the author on an upcoming book for the A Germ’s Journey project.

Johanna is a part-time PhD student and part-time Access to HE tutor. She has a BSc. Hons in Biomedical Science from University of Sunderland and an MSc in Medical Molecular Biology from University of Westminster. Johanna's Research interests include infectious disease, public health, science communication and education.

Dr Indrani Lahiri is a Senior Lecturer in Media & Communication at Leicester Media School, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media, De Montfort University. Her research focuses on digital media, mental health, society and politics.  She is also the Founder of Children stories in times of Corona, a digital platform to bring parents, children and schools together to design resilience pathways; and Manav Utsav (Human Festival), to celebrate the South Asian Heritage month in July 2020. Indrani recently joined the Germ's Journey team as the project's Communications Director.

Dr Ryan Hamilton is a senior lecture in pharmacy at De Montfort University and a lead clinical pharmacist for microbiology and infectious diseases in the NHS. His research focuses on the optimal treatment of complex and drug-resistant infections and the support of people diagnosed with drug-resistant organisms. Ryan has also developed education and outreach programmes about antimicrobial resistance for young people in schools and uniformed groups such as Scouts and Guides.