Geoffrey Coombs

After obtaining a Bachelor of Applied Science (Medical Science) at Curtin University in 1978 I worked as a Medical Scientist in medical microbiology at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women (1978 – 1992) and Royal Perth Hospital (1992 - 2012), where I was the Principal Scientist in the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from 2001 to 2012.

I am currently employed as the Chair of Public Health in the School of Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences at Murdoch University At the University I am also a Fellow of the Centre for Biosecurity and One Health.

My current major areas of research are:

· Investigating the molecular evolution of community-associated and live-stock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium in Australia

· Molecular epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoea in Australia

· Antimicrobial resistance surveillance

I have co-authored 270 peer-reviewed scientific papers, presented invited symposia at many national and international conferences, and have over 500 national and international conference publications. I am a Section Editor and on the Advisory Board for the Journal on Global Antimicrobial Resistance and the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. In addition, I am a reviewer for several international journals including the Journal of Antimicrobials and Chemotherapy, PLoS One, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Diseases.

In the course of my professional career, I have received many awards including an Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) Foundation Scholarship (1996); the Australian Society for Antimicrobials (ASA)/AstraZeneca Travel Award (2000); the ASA/bioMérieux Identifying Antimicrobial Resistance Award (2003 and 2007); and the ASM/bioMérieux Identifying Antimicrobial Resistance Award (2009).

In 2006 I received a Distinguished Service Award from the Australian Society for Microbiology

In 2010 I was awarded a Royal College of Pathology of Australasia Faculty of Science Fellowship (RCPA FFSc).

In 2013 I was awarded my PhD from the School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia which was awarded a Chancellor’s Letter of Commendation.

In 2017 I was awarded an Australian Society for Microbiology Fellowship (FASM).

In 2019 I was awarded an International Society for Antimicrobials Fellowship (FISAC)

I am the Chair for the Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR); President for the Australian Society for Antimicrobials (ASA); Examiner Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Faculty of Science: Microbiology, Executive Committee Member (Past President) and Trustee of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, and a Member of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM), and the European Society for Clinical Microbiology; Medical Testing Assessor for the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA);

From 2001 to 2005 I was the Australian Society for Microbiology Vice President for Corporate Affairs.

Google Scholar (28 October 2024)

(https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=Jl4wRFwAAAAJ&hl=en)

· Citations: 14,935

· h-index: 60

· i10-index: 183

Scopus ID (28 October 2026)

ID: 26643419900

Citations: 1o,504

Publications: 261

h-index: 50

Research (28 October 2026)

https://research.com/u/geoffrey-w-coomb

Discipline: Microbiology

H-index: 56

D-index: 56

World ranking 3,686

Current World Ranking: 3,381

National Ranking: 116

Current national ranking: 109

Publications: 243

Citations: 13,138

Expertscape

In 2023 recognised as an Expertscape World Expert in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus – ranked in the top 0.03% based on 63,038 published articles from 2013 to 2023 (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Worldwide - Expertscape.com)

ScholarGPS

In 2025 ranked as a Top Scholar (scholarly contributions ranked within the top 0.5% of scholars worldwide based on the ScholarGPS database of over 30 million profiles and 120,000 Scholar Institutional profiles)

Discipline: Microbiology

#56 Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (Globally)

#376 Antimicrobial resistance (Globally)

PhD Completions

1. Evolution and Epidemiology of E. faecium CC17 in Western Australian Hospitals.

Student: Terence Lee

Supervisors Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Sam Abraham, Dr Stanley Pang, Dr Josh Ramsay

2. An Anti-virulence Target for Neisseria meningitidis: the Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Protein (Mip)

Student: Emily Kibble

Supervisors Prof Geoffrey Coombs, A/Prof Charlene Kahler

3. Antimicrobial Resistance at the Human-animal Interface

Student: Riley Murphy

Supervisors Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Sam Abraham, Dr Stanley Pang,

Dr Josh Ramsay

4. Epidemiology and Evolution of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Western Australia.

Student: Alsuwayyid Barakat Ali

Supervisors Dr Charlene Kahler, Dr David Speers, Prof Geoffrey Coombs

5. The role of the MisRS Two-component System in the Pathogenesis of Hyperinvasive Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup W Clonal Complex 11

Student: Nicolie McCluskey

Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, A/Prof Charlene Kahler, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus

6. Molecular Epidemiology of Non-faecium and Non-faecalis Enterococcal Bloodstream Infections in Australia 2014 -2023

Student: Marhami Fahriani

Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus, Dr Christopher Mullally

7. Investigating Clinically Important Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria in Australian Wildlife

Student: Xing Li

Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Jackson Bethany, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus, Dr Chang Cai

8. Prevalence and occupational risk of MRSA carriage in commercially produced food animals in Shandong China

Student: Xiaoyu Ma

Supervisors: Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus, Dr Sam Abraham

Current PhD Students

1. Genetic Signatures of Daptomycin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Student: Wan Chin Lim

Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus

2. Molecular epidemiology of Vancomycin Resistance in Enterococcus faecium Causing Bacteraemia in Australia in Australia, 2018-2023

Student: Auriane Form

Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus

3. Molecular Epidemiology of MRSA in Australia, 2018-2022

Student: Sruthi Sudeep

Supervisors: Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus

4. Genomic Characterisation and Evolution of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL)-negative Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia

Student: Wei Tek Yee

Supervisors: Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus

5. Investigating the Bacteriophages of Enterococcus faecium Causing Bacteraemia in Australia

Student: Princy Shoby

Supervisors: Supervisors: Prof Geoffrey Coombs, Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus, Dr Lucy Furfaro