Dr Veronica Jarocki

Dr Veronica Jarocki’s varied work experience, diverse research expertise and never-ending wanderlust are driven by a love of discovery. Having worked as a registered nurse for more than 11 years while subsequently pursuing biological and biomedical sciences, Veronica brings a unique lens to the growing issue of AMR.

She specialises in using comparative genomics to understand bacterial resistance mechanisms and transmission pathways and has worked extensively with diverse species isolated from various sources, including wastewater systems, environmental waters, animal samples and clinical specimens.

Q: How did you end up in scientific research?

Veronica: I actually started in ancient history at Macquarie University, which might sound a little unusual for a molecular microbiologist! But it trained me to weigh evidence and think critically, which are skills that I use every day in science.

I studied nursing at University of Technology Sydney [UTS] and then worked in mental health for about 10 years. After that, I returned to UTS to do a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science and then a PhD in molecular biology.

My PhD research focused on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, which causes pneumonia in pigs. The food animal industry relies on antibiotics to manage these infections, because current vaccines are often ineffective. I found that the bacterium does more with less by repurposing proteins for multiple jobs. Understanding those mechanisms helps us design better ways to control infection and explore different vaccine ideas.

Q: Had you worked on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) before joining SAAFE?

Veronica: Once I completed my PhD, which was in proteomics, I moved into Professor Steven Djordevic’s One Health genomics surveillance team at UTS. Since then, my research has been almost entirely AMR-focused.

I specialise in using comparative genomics to understand bacterial resistance mechanisms and transmission pathways. I’ve worked extensively with diverse species isolated from various sources, including wastewater systems, environmental waters, animal samples and clinical specimens. I’ve characterised many bacterial genomes and identified resistance gene profiles, plasmid structures and evolutionary relationships.

I’ve also worked with industry – for example, looking at antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Australian feedlot cattle and collaborating with a pharmaceutical company on vaccine development strategies.

Q: What does your SAAFE project involve?

Veronica: I'm supervising a PhD project with Sydney Water, where we’re looking at the evolution of Escherichia coli through a wastewater treatment plant. The project combines our genomic surveillance expertise with Sydney Water’s operational knowledge and access to one of their treatment facilities.

We’re following E. coli populations from when they enter the treatment plant through each stage and using whole-genome sequencing to understand how they evolve under different selective pressures. We're interested in whether the water treatment processes select for specific E. coli strains and resistance genes and whether any stress tolerance mechanisms emerge at different stages.

Q: What’s your favourite part of your research?

Veronica: I really love finding mobile genetic elements, like plasmids, and tracking how they’re shared between hosts. Separate from my SAAFE work, we’re carrying out a comprehensive genomic investigation of the transmissible locus of stress tolerance, or the tLST. This mobile genetic element confers enhanced resilience to heat, pressure and chemical disinfectants in various bacterial species. So bacteria that carry tLST become much harder to kill using standard sanitation and treatment processes. This work has significant implications for industries that rely on disinfection processes, from water treatment to food processing to healthcare.

We’ve analysed nearly 48,000 bacterial genomes to find where tLST is distributed and how it might spread. We’re going to scan for tLST in the SAAFE PhD project too.

Q: What part of your work is the most challenging?

Veronica: I think the most challenging part is thinking of the best way to present and visualise the data so it’s accessible to a broader audience. For example, wastewater treatment managers don’t necessarily need to know all about phylogenetic trees, but they do need to understand which antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are persisting in their treatment processes and what that means operationally.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about data visualisation – like how to show the movement of resistant genes between environments in a way that’s intuitive or how to present the relationship between stress tolerance, virulence and AMR without getting lost in technical details.

The most sophisticated genomic analysis in the world loses its impact if you can't communicate what it means to the people who’ll make changes based on your findings.