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Career

2016: Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Fellow (DAMTP, University of Cambridge)

2016: Governing Body Fellow (Wolfson College, University of Cambridge)

2015: PhD in Zoology (University of Oxford, UK)

2008: MSc in Ecology (University of Lisbon, PT)

2006: BSc in Biology (University of Lisbon, PT)

 

Research

I study the marvels of microbial behaviour, ecology and evolution. In particular, my research aims to uncover the natural ecology of bacterial motility. How do bacteria sense clonemates, other bacterial species or potential hosts and control their motility accordingly? And how does that motile behaviour affect their impacts on us? To answer these questions I spy bacteria using time-lapse microscopy and single-cell tracking algorithms, which I combine with classical tools from molecular genetics and mathematical modelling.

 

Selected Publications

Oliveira NM, Foster KR, Durham WM (2016). Single-cell twitching chemotaxis in developing biofilms. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 23(113):6532-6537. 

 

Oliveira NM, Martinez-Garcia E, Xavier J, Durham WM, Kolter, R, Kim W, Foster KR (2015) Biofilm formation as a response to ecological competition. PLoS Biol 13(7). 

 

Oliveira NM, Niehus R, Foster KR (2014) Evolutionary limits to cooperation in microbial communities. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111(50):17941-17946. 

Publications

Bacterial motility can govern the dynamics of antibiotic resistance evolution.
V Piskovsky, NM Oliveira
– Nature Communications
(2023)
14,
5584
Bacterial motility governs the evolution of antibiotic resistance in spatially heterogeneous environments
V Piskovsky, N Oliveira
(2022)
Stabilization of microbial communities by responsive phenotypic switching
PA Haas, MA Gutierrez, NM Oliveira, RE Goldstein
– Physical Review Research
(2022)
4,
033224
Biofilm Growth under Elastic Confinement
R Goldstein, G Fortune, N Oliveira
– Physical Review Letters
(2022)
128,
178102
Suicidal chemotaxis in bacteria
N Oliveira, J Wheeler, C Deroy, S Booth, E Walsh, W Durham, K Foster
(2021)
2021.12.21.473623
Stabilization of Microbial Communities by Responsive Phenotypic Switching
P Haas, M Gutierrez, N Oliveira, R Goldstein
(2021)
Biofilm Growth Under Elastic Confinement
G Fortune, N Oliveira, R Goldstein
(2021)
2021.12.05.471265
Subpopulations and Stability in Microbial Communities
PA Haas, NM Oliveira, RE Goldstein
– Physical Review Research
(2020)
2,
022036
Subpopulations and Stability in Microbial Communities
PA Haas, NM Oliveira, RE Goldstein
(2019)
The evolution of siderophore production as a competitive trait
R Niehus, A Picot, NM Oliveira, S Mitri, KR Foster
– Evolution
(2017)
71,
1443
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Research Group

Biological Physics and Mechanics

Room

H2.02

Telephone

01223 764078