Amrita Bharat

Research Scientist

Research on antibiotic resistance, antifungal resistance, nosocomial infections and genomics

Current research and/or projects

Research focusing on genomic epidemiology and mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of various bacterial and fungal pathogens, including Enterobacteriales and Candida.

Research and/or project statements

Research intersets include:

antimicrobial resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens
mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance
genomic epidemiology
genomics-based innovation including WGS from clinical specimens and prediction of resistance from WGS

Education and awards

Education:

Ph.D. Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University

B.Sc. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, McMaster University

Awards:

NSERC Visiting Fellowship in a Canadian Government Lab

CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship ($70,000)

Ontario Graduate Scholarship

Key publications

Mulvey, M.R., Bharat, A., Boyd, D.A., Irwin, R.J., Wylie, J. Characterization of a colistin-resistant Salmonella enterica 4, [5],12: I: - Harbouring mcr-3.2 on a variant IncHI-2 plasmid identified in Canada 2018 Journal of Medical Microbiology 67(12),000854, pp. 1673-1675.

https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.000854

Walkty, A., Adam, H., Tran, V., (...), Bharat, A., Karlowsky, J. Failure of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to detect IMP-27 in a clinical isolate of Morganella morganii 2018 Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, 92(3), pp. 194-195.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2018.06.011

Bharat, A., Martin, I., Zhanel, G.G., Mulvey, M.R. In vitro potency and combination testing of antimicrobial agents against Neisseria gonorrhoeae 2016 Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy, 22(3), pp. 194-197.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiac.2015.10.002

French, S., Mangat, C., Bharat, A., (...), Mori, H., Brown, E.D. A robust platform for chemical genomics in bacterial systems, 2016 Molecular Biology of the Cell, 27(6), pp. 1015-1025.

https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E15-08-0573

Bharat, A., Martin, I., Demczuk, W., (...), Hoang, L., Mulvey, M.R. Complete genome sequences of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with coresistance to first-line antimicrobials, 2016 Genome Announcements 4(5),e00966-16.

https://doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.00966-16

Bharat, A., Demczuk, W., Martin, I., Mulvey, M.R. Effect of variants of penicillin-binding protein 2 on cephalosporin and carbapenem susceptibilities in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. 2015 Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 59(8), pp. 5003-5006.

https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.05143-14

Bharat, A., Brown, E.D. Phenotypic investigations of the depletion of EngA in Escherichia coli are consistent with a role in ribosome biogenesis. 2014 FEMS Microbiology Letters, 353(1), pp. 26-32.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6968.12403

Mangat, C.S., Bharat, A., Gehrke, S.S., Brown, E.D. Rank ordering plate data facilitates data visualization and normalization in high-throughput screening. 2014 Journal of Bimolecular Screening, 19(9), pp. 1314-1320.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1087057114534298

Mangat, C. S., Bharat, A., Gehrke, S. S., & Brown, E. D. Rank ordering plate data facilitates data visualization and normalization in high-throughput screening. 2014 Journal of biomolecular screening, 19(9), 1314–1320.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1087057114534298

Bharat, A., Blanchard, J. E., & Brown, E. D. (2013). A High-Throughput Screen of the GTPase Activity of Escherichia coli EngA to Find an Inhibitor of Bacterial Ribosome Biogenesis. Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 18(7), 830–836.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1087057113486001

Bharat, A., Jiang, M., Sullivan, S.M., Maddock, J.R., Brown, E.D. Cooperative and critical roles for both G domains in the GTPase activity and cellular function of ribosome-associated Escherichia coli EngA. 2006 Journal of Bacteriology,188(22), pp. 7992-7996.

https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00959-06