Francis Drobniewski is a microbiologist, physician, and academic. He is professor of Global Health and Tuberculosis at Imperial College London.
Drobniewski's research focuses on the molecular diagnosis and epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) and other respiratory infections, including multidrug-resistant forms and their implications for treatment and public health. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the UK Royal College of Pathologists.
Education Drobniewski attended high school at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath. He completed his M.A. at Trinity College Dublin in 1983, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1986. Later, in 1991, he earned his M.B.B.S. from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, and an M.Sc. and Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1993.
Career Following his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, Drobniewski began his academic career as a professor at King's College London in 2000, and later joined Queen Mary University of London in 2005. Since 2013, he has been a professor of Global Health and Tuberculosis at Imperial College London.
Drobniewski was director of the UK Public Health Laboratory Service, National Mycobacterium (TB) Reference Laboratory from 1996 to 2015. He was elected president of the European Society for Mycobacteriology from 2006 to 2007. In 2006, he directed Health Sciences Research. He was also the member and then Chair of the WHO European Laboratory initiative on TB, HIV and Viral Hepatitis, and worked as a member of the WHO Global Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) in 2008. He is a founding member of European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) European TB Reference Laboratory Network since 2009. He has also held advisory and governance roles, including working as a member of the NICE Guideline Development Group for Tuberculosis, member of the British Thoracic Society National Clinical MDR-TB Advisory Panel, Trustee-Director of Peter Sowerby Foundation and a NICE-TAC member.
Research Drobniewski's research focuses on microbiology, highlighting molecular diagnostics, drug resistance, and management of tuberculosis and respiratory infections. His work has investigated genotyping methods such as spoligotyping and variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs), and has used whole genome sequencing (WGS) of TB strains in understanding of the evolution and transmission of TB during outbreaks in multiple countries. His work has identified associations between pathogen genotypes, drug resistance, and lineage across different geographical population groups, including patterns specific to the Beijing lineage. In collaborative studies, he used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to analyze TB drug resistance and transmission and contributed to the development of non-microbiological genotypic-prediction of first line anti-TB drugs from cultured isolates, and supported their use in routine diagnostic services.
Drobniewski's work contributed to the understanding of within-host evolution in chronically ill patients and the role of compensatory mutations in bacterial fitness. He has evaluated the performance and reliability of rapid detection methods like nucleic acid amplification and real-time PCR His studies have also addressed other pathogens, including Bacillus cereus, and their involvement in severe infections and foodborne illness.
Drobniewski's studies have emphasized the need for improved treatment options for tuberculosis.
Awards and honors 2014 – Fellow, Royal Society of Biology 2017 – Fellow, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) 2025 – Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
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