Evangelos Mourkas

Evangelos Mourkas follows Campylobacter wherever it goes: organic poultry farms in Sweden, wild birds, hospital ponds, infants in the Peruvian Amazon. Sequencing thousands of genomes shows how resistance moves between all of them.

Researcher

Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University

evangelos.mourkas@uu.se

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Research focus and interests

  • Zoonotic and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) evolution and transmission across human, animal, and environmental systems (One Health)
  • Genomic epidemiology of bacterial pathogens
  • Environmental resistomes in wastewater and natural water systems
  • Host–pathogen interactions and pathogen adaptation across ecological niches
  • Impact of urbanisation and human activity on microbial communities and AMR spread

Research expertise and methodologies

  • Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and comparative genomics
  • Metagenomics and resistome analysis
  • Antimicrobial resistance gene detection
  • Phylogenetics and population structure analysis
  • Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in bacteria
  • Bioinformatics (Linux/UNIX, R, Python, HPC/Slurm environments)
  • Bacterial culturing and microbiological assays
  • Experimental design and data integration across genomic and epidemiological datasets

Ongoing research projects

Environmental AMR in urban water systems

Using metagenomics, I investigate the persistence, seasonal dynamics, and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes across urban freshwater environments and wastewater systems, including ponds adjacent to hospitals and sewage treatment plants. This work aims to understand how environmental reservoirs contribute to the spread of AMR and their relevance for human exposure.

Campylobacter at the wildlife–livestock interface (Sweden)

I investigate the population structure and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni across organic poultry farms and surrounding wildlife. This work explores strain sharing, host adaptation, and the role of wild birds as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens.

Campylobacter genomic epidemiology in low- and middle-income settings (Peru)

I study the genetic diversity, transmission dynamics, and host adaptation of Campylobacter in human and animal populations in Peru. This work focuses on understanding infection patterns, pathogen evolution, and the burden of disease in endemic settings, integrating genomic data with epidemiological and clinical data.

Clinical and translational AMR research

I collaborate on projects investigating bacterial infections in clinical settings, including bloodstream infections and periprosthetic joint infections, with a focus on resistance evolution and pathogen adaptation.

Key Publications

  1. Mourkas E., Valdebenito J.O., Marsh H., Hitchings M.D., Cooper K.K., Parker C.T., Székely T., Johansson H., Ellström P., Pascoe B., Waldenström J., Sheppard S.K. (2024) Proximity to humans is associated with antimicrobial resistant enteric pathogens in wild bird microbiomes. Current Biology, 34:3955–3965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.059
  2. Cooper K.K., Mourkas E., Schiaffino F., Parker C.T., et al. (2025) Sharing of cmeRABC alleles between C. coli and C. jejuni associated with extensive drug resistance in Campylobacter isolates from infants and poultry in the Peruvian Amazon. mBio. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02054-24
  3. Elmarghani E.D., Pettersson J.O-H., Atterby C., Hickman R.A., et al., Mourkas E.*, Järhult J.D.* (2025) Genomic insights into extended-spectrum β-lactamase- and plasmid-borne AmpC-producing Escherichia coli transmission between humans and livestock in rural Cambodia. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 74(3):001988. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001988
  4. Mourkas E., Taylor A.J., Méric G., Bayliss S.C., et al., Kelly D.J.*, Sheppard S.K.* (2020) Agricultural intensification and the evolution of host specialism in the enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. PNAS, 117(20):11018–11028. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917168117
  5. Mourkas E.*, Florez-Cuadrado D.*, Pascoe B., Calland J.K., et al., Sheppard S.K. (2019) Gene pool transmission of multidrug resistance among Campylobacter from livestock, sewage and human disease. Environmental Microbiology, 21(12):4597–4613. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14760

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