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Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 364 0585
Email
amy.scott-thomas@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Senior Research Fellow
Department
Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science (Christchurch)
Qualifications
BSc(Hons)(Otago), PhD(Linc)
Research summary
Breath research

Research

I am a Research Scientist in the Breath Research Group and lead our team in the development of non-invasive breath tests. Although our group researches multiple lung pathogens, I have a special interest in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its growth in the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung.

The focus of my research is to improve our current breath test for Ps. aeruginosa identification in the lungs of CF patients. When Ps. aeruginosa grows it releases a 'grape-like' odour called 2-aminoacetophenone (2-AA). To date we have been able to detect an increase in the levels of this molecule (using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry) in the breath of CF patients colonised with Ps. aeruginosa.

Further research is planned to improve both the sensitivity and specificity of this test.

Publications

Carr, A. C., Vlasiuk, E., Zawari, M., Scott-Thomas, A., Storer, M., Maze, M., & Chambers, S. T. (2023). Low vitamin C concentrations in patients with community-acquired pneumonia resolved with pragmatic administration of intravenous and oral vitamin C. Antioxidants, 12, 1610. doi: 10.3390/antiox12081610 Journal - Research Article

Chambers, S. T., Scott-Thomas, A., Storer, M., Slow, S., Williman, J., Epton, M., Murdoch, D. R., Metcalf, S., Carr, A., Isenman, H., & Maze, M. (2023). Adjunctive intravenous then oral vitamin C for moderate and severe community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized adults: Feasibility of randomized controlled trial. Scientific Reports, 13, 11879. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37934-z Journal - Research Article

Jun, H., Scott-Thomas, A., Slow, S., Williman, J., Murdoch, D. R., & Chambers, S. T. (2023). The inhibitory effect of copper, zinc, and manganese on Legionella longbeachae and other Legionella spp. in vitro. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 76, 1-9. doi: 10.1093/lambio/ovad074 Journal - Research Article

Lian, X., Scott-Thomas, A., Lewis, J. G., Bhatia, M., & Chambers, S. T. (2022). A novel monoclonal antibody 1D2 that broadly inhibits clinically important Aspergillus species. Journal of Fungi, 8, 960. doi: 10.3390/jof8090960 Journal - Research Article

Manandhar, S., Scott-Thomas, A., Harrington, M., Sinha, P., Pilbrow, A., Richards, A. M., Cameron, V., Bhatia, M., & Chambers, S. T. (2022). Hydrogen sulfide and substance P levels in patients with Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteraemia. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23, 8639. doi: 10.3390/ijms23158639 Journal - Research Article

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