Dr Rachael Wilkinson

I am currently a Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate and Protein Lead at the Becky Mayer Centre for Phage Research at the University of Leicester. I completed my undergraduate degree in Medical Microbiology and Virology at the University of Warwick, before undertaking a PhD in Chemical Biology at the University of Southampton, where my research focused on the characterisation of a novel antibacterial target in biowarfare agents. As a postdoctoral researcher, I have held positions at the University of Warwick, Swansea University, and the University of Oxford. My work has focused on protein crystallography of novel lignin-degrading enzymes, investigating the role of REST splice variants in cancer, and collaborating with SMEs to support the development of healthcare innovations in Wales. I am an active member of the UK structural biology community and have served as Secretary of the BCA Biological Structures Group since 2024. I have also contributed to the organisation of key community events, including the BCA Spring Meeting 2024 and the BSG Winter Meeting 2025. My research integrates microbiology, biochemistry, and structural biology to investigate the phage proteome, with the aim of uncovering the mechanisms phages use to exploit and manipulate their hosts throughout their lifecycle. I am particularly interested in characterizing the many ‘hypothetical’ proteins within the phage proteome and exploring the potential therapeutic applications of these proteins.

Selected Publications:

Perfilyev A, Gæde A, Hooton S, Zahran SA, Kalatzis PG, Winther-Have CS, Ibarra-Chavez R, Wilkinson RC et al. (2026) Large-scale analysis of bacterial genomes reveals thousands of lytic phages. Nature Microbiology. DOI:10.1038/s41564-025-02203-4

Wilkinson RC*, Thomas NE, Bhatti A, Burton MR, Joyce N, Jenkins RE (2025) Phage-encoded antimicrobial peptide gp28 demonstrates LL-37-like antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PHAGE. doi: 10.1089/phage.2024.0009

Wilkinson RC*, Meldrum K, Maggs CJ, Thomas NE, Thomas BR, De Mello N, Joyce N (2023) Determining the efficacy of disinfectants at nucleic acid degradation. Journal of Applied Microbiology. doi: 10.1093/jambio/lxad244

Thomas NE, Ugokwe NI, Kinsella A, Galyov E, van Schaik W, Joyce N, Nobrega FL, Millard A, Wilkinson RC* (2023) Genome sequence and characterisation of coliphage Môr Ffagbaw. PHAGE. doi: 10.1089/phage.2023.0029

Thanki AM, Clavijo V, Healy K, Wilkinson RC et al. (2022) Development of a phage cocktail to target Salmonella strains associated with swine. Pharmaceuticals. DOI: 10.3390/ph15010058

Mikhaylina A, Ksibe AZ, Wilkinson RC et al. (2022) A single sensor controls large variations in zinc quotas in a marine cyanobacterium. Nature Chemical Biology. DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01051-1

Wilkinson RC*, Rahman Pour R, Jamshidi S, Fülöp V, Bugg TDH (2020) Extracellular alpha/beta-hydrolase from Paenibacillus species shares structural and functional homology to tobacco salicylic acid binding protein 2. Journal of Structural Biology. DOI:

Wei Z, Wilkinson RC et al. (2019) Characterisation of thiamine diphosphate-dependent 4-hydroxybenzoylformate decarboxylase enzymes from Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 and Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5 involved in degradation of aryl C2 lignin degradation fragments. ACS Biochemistry. DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00177