Senior Editor

Dr. Scott received her Ph.D. from the University of Dundee after completing her research project at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee with Prof. Harrison. She then completed several post-doctoral research positions at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen before being appointed as a permanent Research Fellow and then Principal Investigator in 2008. She serves as the co-leader of the Rowett Institute Athena Swan Equality and Diversity team, responsible for delivering the Action Plan and submitting the renewal application. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP, President from 2016-2019), and is the Chair of the local organizing committee for the biennial Gut Microbiology-Rowett/INRAE International conference. She has also been on the organizing committee for the Wellcome Trust Gut Microbiome annual conference and the International Human Microbiome Conference. She has participated in several ILSI “expert groups”, and is a member of the review panel for the Nature/Yakult Global Grants for Gut Health. Dr. Scott’s main research areas are investigating the molecular microbiology of gastrointestinal tract bacteria, with a particular interest in the carriage and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes; in the utilization of prebiotic and other dietary substrates by human commensal gut bacteria; and in the effects, specific dietary changes have on the composition and activity of the gut microbiota, through different life stages. Microarray technology was used to investigate differential gene expression of a specific gut bacterium, and identified novel mechanisms by which the bacterial strain responds to the availability of different dietary substrates, facilitating its survival in the gut. Changes in the microbial composition following specific dietary supplementation have revealed key roles for specific bacterial genera and identified those with potential for development as novel probiotics. A current focus is establishing the bacterial succession in the infant's gut from birth through to the development of the ‘adult-like’ microbiota, focusing on the establishment of the obligately anaerobic microbiota. This includes looking at key developmental stages and assessing the impact of different nutritional regimes, to understand their impact on lifelong health. She has published more than 70 scientific papers in high-impact journals.

Gut microbiota, Prebiotics, Antimicrobial resistance, Gene transfer