Sylvia Sapula

Dr Sylvia Sapula

Research Associate

School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences

College of Health

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD as Principal Supervisor - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I have been working on the crisis of antimicrobial resistance since 2009, when I undertook my Honours at Flinders University. Following the completion of my Honours degree, with first class, I continued with my studies at Flinders University and obtained my PhD, focused on bacterial multidrug-efflux proteins, in 2015. Following this, I completed a Graduate Diploma of Education at the University of Adelaide, before entering my current role at the University of South Australia in 2019 as a post-doctorate researcher. I have since continued within the field of antimicrobial resistance to focus on molecular microbiology and bioinformatics, and to use these techniques to understand emerging pathogens, their place in the microbial community and their ability to acquire resistance and cause infections. My research aims to inform and guide future policy making that can help combat antimicrobial resistant pathogens.

Year Citation
2026 Wang, Y., Sapula, S. A., Hart, B. J., & Venter, H. (2026). A novel self-transmissible mega plasmid from extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca carries multiple antimicrobial resistance genes and acts as a resistance reservoir. Current Research in Microbial Sciences, 10, 100587.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2026 Amsalu, A., Alvaro, A., Quinn, L., Antipov, A., Sapula, S., Venter, H., . . . Kopecki, Z. (2026). Microbiome Profiling and Antimicrobial Efficacy of a Novel Silver-Nanoparticle Hydrogel Dressing Against Clinical Isolates From Paediatric Burn Wounds. Microbiologyopen, 15(4), e70383.
DOI
2025 Blaikie, J. M., Sapula, S. A., Siderius, N. L., Hart, B. J., Amsalu, A., Leong, L. E. X., . . . Venter, H. (2025). Resistome Analysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae Complex from Residential Aged Care Facilities Demonstrates Intra-facility Clonal Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Isolates. Microorganisms, 12(4), 751.
DOI Scopus5 WoS7 Europe PMC7
2025 Sapula, S. A., Wang, Y., Hart, B. J., Whittall, J. J., & Venter, H. (2025). The continued evolution of the L2 cephalosporinase in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: a key driver of beta-lactam resistance. Biochemical Journal, 482(3), BCJ20240478.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC2
2025 Chen, H., Sapula, S. A., Turnidge, J., & Venter, H. (2025). The effect of commonly used non-antibiotic medications on antimicrobial resistance development in 𝘌𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘪. npj antimicrobials and resistance, 3(1), 73-1-73-15.
DOI WoS11 Europe PMC6
2025 Adams, F. G., Sapula, S. A., Hart, B. J., Warner, M. S., & Speck, P. G. (2025). Complete genome sequence of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain 63-2498, isolated from a diabetic foot infection. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 14(10), 1-4.
DOI Scopus1
2025 Tesalona, S. D., Abulencia, M. F. B., Pineda Cortel, M. R. B., Sapula, S. A., Venter, H., & Lagamayo, E. N. (2025). Identification of a potential high-risk clone and novel sequence type of Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa in Metro Manila, Philippines. Antibiotics-Basel, 14(4, article no. 362), 1-17.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2024 Wang, Y., Sapula, S. A., Whittall, J. J., Blaikie, J. M., Lomovskaya, O., & Venter, H. (2024). Identification and characterization of CIM-1, a carbapenemase that adds to the family of resistance factors against last resort antibiotics. Communications Biology, 7(1), 282.
DOI Scopus7 WoS7 Europe PMC6
2024 Sapula, S. A., Hart, B. J., Siderius, N. L., Amsalu, A., Blaikie, J. M., & Venter, H. (2024). Multidrug-resistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in residential aged care facilities: An emerging threat. Microbiologyopen, 13(3), 18 pages.
DOI Scopus12 WoS11 Europe PMC11
2024 Siderius, N. L., Sapula, S. A., Hart, B. J., Hutchings, J. L., & Venter, H. (2024). Enterobacter adelaidei sp. nov. Isolation of an extensively drug resistant strain from hospital wastewater in Australia and the global distribution of the species. Microbiological Research, 288, 1-15.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC3
2023 Alhamami, T., Roy Chowdhury, P., Venter, H., Veltman, T., Truswell, A., Abraham, S., . . . Trott, D. J. (2023). Genomic profiling of Pasteurella multocida isolated from feedlot cases of bovine respiratory disease.. Veterinary microbiology, 283(article no. 109773), 1-8.
DOI Scopus22 WoS14 Europe PMC11
2023 Nguyen, H. T., Venter, H., Woolford, L., Young, K. A., McCluskey, A., Garg, S., . . . Trott, D. J. (2023). Oral administration of a 2-aminopyrimidine robenidine analogue (NCL195) significantly reduces Staphylococcus aureus infection and reduces Escherichia coli infection in combination with sub-inhibitory colistin concentrations in a bioluminescent mouse model. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 67(10), e0042423-1-e0042423-13.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2023 Sapula, S. A., Amsalu, A., Whittall, J. J., Hart, B. J., Siderius, N. L., Nguyen, L., . . . Venter, H. (2023). The scope of antimicrobial resistance in residential aged care facilities determined through analysis of Escherichia coli and the total wastewater resistome.. Microbiol Spectr, 11(6), e0073123.
DOI Scopus6 WoS8 Europe PMC7
2021 Amsalu, A., Sapula, S. A., Whittall, J. J., Hart, B. J., Bell, J., Turnidge, J., & Venter, H. (2021). Taking AIM-(1) at carbapenem resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 58, 21003691.
DOI
2021 Amsalu, A., Sapula, S. A., Whittall, J. J., Hart, B. J., Bell, J. M., Turnidge, J., & Venter, H. (2021). Worldwide distribution and environmental origin of the Adelaide imipenemase (AIM-1), a potent carbapenemase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbial Genomics, 7(12), 000715-1-000715-11.
DOI Scopus13 WoS14 Europe PMC10
2021 Sapula, S. A., Whittall, J. J., Pandopulos, A. J., Gerber, C., & Venter, H. (2021). An optimized and robust PEG precipitation method for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Science of the Total Environment, 785, 9 pages.
DOI Scopus77 WoS66 Europe PMC56
2020 Amsalu, A., Sapula, S. A., Lopes, M. D. B., Hart, B. J., Nguyen, A. H., Drigo, B., . . . Venter, H. (2020). Efflux pump-driven antibiotic and biocide cross-resistance in pseudomonas Aeruginosa isolated from different ecological Niches: a case study in the development of multidrug resistance in environmental hotspots. Microorganisms, 8(11), 1-18.
DOI Scopus101 WoS94 Europe PMC70
2011 Baltzer, S. A., & Brown, M. H. (2011). Antimicrobial peptides - promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Journal of molecular microbiology and biotechnology, 20(4), 228-235.
DOI Scopus184 Europe PMC127
2010 Hassan, K. A., Paulsen, I. T., Baltzer, S. A., & Brown, M. (2010). Pumping out biocides - cause for concern?. Microbiology Australia, 31(4), 178-181.

Courses I teach

  • MEDI 4006 Specialised Microbiology (2025)
  • MEDI 4006 Specialised Microbiology (2024)
  • PHAR 2016 Dosage Form Design 2 (2024)

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Design and Evaluation of Multi-Epitope Peptides (MEPs) as Vaccine Candidates to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Girija Roka
2025 Co-Supervisor Establishing a cross-country multipronged approach to prepare for the pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (MAPP-AMR) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Girija Roka
2023 Co-Supervisor 109420 - Limiting the risk for bacterial antimicrobial resistance: providing insight into the potential role of polypharmacy in antimicrobial resistance development Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Hanbiao Chen
2023 Co-Supervisor Preventing chronic infection in Cystic Fibrosis patients with a repurposed drug that inhibits antibiotic efflux pumps Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Sida Liu
2022 Co-Supervisor Combatting antimicrobial resistance through the development of responsible antimicrobial formulations with a reduced risk of causing resistance to clinically useful antibiotics Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Zifan Owen Xiang
2020 Co-Supervisor Risk factors in the development and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in residential age care facilities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Naomi Siderius

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2022 - 2026 Co-Supervisor Characterisation of antimicrobial resistance factors in Chryseobacterium indologenes and Klebsiella oxytoca from healthcare environments and hospital wastewater  Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Yu Wang
2021 - 2025 Co-Supervisor Characterization of antimicrobial resistance gram-positive bacteria in residential aged care facilities and healthcare wastewater Master of Research (Medical Science) Master Part Time Mrs Belaynesh Asrat
2021 - 2024 Co-Supervisor Surveillance and genomic characterisation of antimicrobial-resistant klebsiella spp. from healthcare environments in Adelaide, Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jack Blaikie

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