Kareen Macleod

Biography

Kareen graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Immunology and Microbiology from the University of Strathclyde and soon afterwards became a trainee Biomedical Scientist (BMS) in a Microbiology and Virology laboratory. She became registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) by completing a Biomedical Science postgraduate course and afterwards also completed her microbiology specialist portfolio. Kareen studied for her MSc in Medical Microbiology part-time for two years at the University of Westminster whilst also working full-time in the NHS. All together she worked in the NHS for around twelve years, working her way up to being a senior BMS and developing a keen interest in human pathogens, antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases.

Kareen left the NHS to study for a PhD at Glasgow University where she worked with Campylobacter jejuni before moving on to the Roslin Institute where she continued working with human pathogens. Her post-doctoral research involved developing a method for isolating Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) from cattle farm samples and using sequencing to investigate epidemiological links with STEC isolated from humans. Kareen also became a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBMS) and served as portfolio assessor for the IBMS for a time.

Kareen then joined the teaching team in the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences at Glasgow University where she taught undergraduate and postgraduate students and supervised MSc student projects. She completed her Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and became a Recognising Excellence in Teaching (RET) Fellow. Kareen joined the teaching team in the School of Life Sciences at Keele University as Lecturer in Biomedical Science in 2026.

Research and scholarship

I am on an Education & Scholarship contract at Keele University and I have previously been interested in the similarities/differences between the experiences of MSc research project students supervised by Education & Scholarship contracts versus those supervised by Education & Research contracts. I have also previously been interested in feedback literacy within student groups and what students and staff members can do to help students get the most out of their assessment feedback over time.

I no longer take part in active scientific research, but my areas of interest include human pathogens, antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases and I have a particular interest in bacteriology.

Teaching

• LSC - 10070 Clinical Applications of Biomedical Science I
• LSC - 10103 Practical and Academic Skills in Bioscience
• NAT - 20011 Flexible Work Placement
• LSC - 20040 Professional Relationships
• LSC - 20073 Microbes, Viruses and Parasites
• LSC - 20089 Clinical Applications of Biomedical Science II
• LSC - 30036 Human Parasitology
• LSC - 30100 Advanced Clinical Pathology
• LSC - 30102 Research Project
• LSC - 30106 Employability and Communication Skills in Bioscience
• LSC - 40055 Infectious Disease
• LSC – 40079 Medical Microbiology
• LSC – 40083 Infectious Disease (blended)
• LSC – 40123 Scientific Leadership and Innovation
• LSC - 40127 Advanced Research Skills

Further information

I have been a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Ambassador since 2016 and I often take part in online and in-person community engagement activities promoting careers in science.

Supervision

I will be supervising undergraduate and postgraduate project students on a variety of courses.

Collaborations and grants awards

I was awarded a grant at Glasgow University to develop a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activity combining science and maths skills to teach school pupils about antibiotic resistance.