Science

Two decades studying life under stress

For more than twenty years I worked in microbiology and infectious-disease research — at the lab bench, in biotech, and as research faculty and a Principal Investigator in Salt Lake City. My work asked a practical question: how do we prevent and treat infections that are getting harder to cure?

20+

Years in research

Years as Principal Investigator

4,600+

Citations of my work

Students mentored

Countries I’ve reviewed grants for

Following the phage

Bacteriophages — “phages” — are viruses that infect only bacteria. They are the most abundant life form on Earth, and nature’s own way of keeping bacteria in check. As antibiotics lose ground to resistant bacteria, phages offer another way to fight infection.

Phages ran through my whole career. They took me from food safety in industry, to bone and wound infections in medicine, to studies of how infections spread through hospitals. Two of the papers I co-wrote on phage therapy have each been cited more than 1,300 times by other scientists.

Where my work has focused

Phage therapy

Using phages — alone or combined with antibiotics — to treat infection.

Bone, implant & wound infections

Including infection around prosthetic limbs for amputee veterans.

Biofilms & antibiotic resistance

The bacterial communities that make infections so hard to clear.

Food safety

Reducing foodborne bacteria such as Campylobacter in the food chain.

Infection prevention

Hospital contamination, outbreak investigation, and airborne viruses.

Research design & review

Grant writing, peer review, and teaching research methods.

From Cardiff to Salt Lake City

1994–1998

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff — BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences, including training in the hospital microbiology laboratory at the University Hospital of Wales.

1999–2004

Nottingham, UK — MSc in Biotechnology (Nottingham Trent University), then a PhD in Microbiology (University of Nottingham), using phages to reduce Campylobacter in chickens.

2003–2005

Nottingham Trent University — Research Assistant, then Postdoctoral Research Fellow and part-time lecturer.

2005–2006

The Evergreen State College, Washington — Postdoctoral Fellow in a phage biology laboratory.

2006–2007

Institute for Environmental Health — led phage research targeting foodborne pathogens.

2007–2009

OmniLytics — Lead Scientist and acting Chief Scientific Officer, developing phage-based products against foodborne and environmental pathogens.

2010–2011

University of Utah — Postdoctoral Fellow, helping establish a phage laboratory for bone and wound infections.

2011–2023

VA Salt Lake City — Principal Investigator; Research Program Manager and later Director of the Infectious Disease Research Program at the IDEAS Center; and, from 2021, administrator on the management team of the Trajectory of Resilience, Community & Health research program, overseeing budgets, staffing, and reports for the government.

2012–2023

University of Utah — Research Instructor in Orthopaedics, then Research Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine (Epidemiology), with adjunct appointments in Pathology and Plastic Surgery.

2023–2025

University of Utah — Adjunct Assistant Professor.

Reviewing, leading, mentoring

Grant reviewer for the NIH, the Department of Defense, and the US Army — and for funders in the UK, Israel, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada
Review Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology, and peer reviewer for 19 scientific journals
Co-organizer and session chair of the Evergreen International Phage Meetings; Advisory Board member, International Society for Viruses of Microorganisms
Council on Microbial Sciences representative, American Society for Microbiology
School of Medicine Admissions Committee, and teacher of research design to medical laboratory science students
Mentor to 42 high school, undergraduate, and medical students

Selected publications

Loc-Carrillo C, Abedon ST (2011). Pros and cons of phage therapy. Bacteriophage.
Chan BK, Abedon ST, Loc-Carrillo C (2013). Phage cocktails and the future of phage therapy. Future Microbiology.
Loc Carrillo C, et al. (2005). Bacteriophage therapy to reduce Campylobacter jejuni colonization of broiler chickens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Caubilla-Barron J, et al. (2007). Genotypic and phenotypic analysis of Enterobacter sakazakii strains from an outbreak resulting in fatalities in a neonatal intensive care unit in France. Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
Scott AE, et al. (2007). Genome dynamics of Campylobacter jejuni in response to bacteriophage predation. PLoS Pathogens.

View all publications on Google Scholar →

What the lab taught me

For twenty years I studied systems under stress: bacteria under attack, infections under treatment. The lesson that stayed with me is hormesis — the right dose of stress makes a living system stronger. I didn’t just study it; I tested it on myself, using deliberate, measured stress to rebuild my own physical and mental health. Coaching was already part of my academic life, as a Coach Member of the Utah Coaching and Advancement Network. Today I bring that same rigor to other people.

Speaking, consulting & collaboration

I welcome invitations to speak, consulting work, and research collaborations — especially on phage therapy, antibiotic resistance, infection prevention, research design, and the science of stress and adaptation.

Get in Touch