Dr. Emilyn
Costa Conceicao

Dr. Emilyn Costa Conceição is a microbiologist and genomic epidemiologist whose career has been dedicated to understanding bacterial pathogens and translating genomic technologies into routine clinical and public health practice. She currently leads the Genomics of Antimicrobial Resistance (GEN-AMR) Research Unit at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), Stellenbosch University, where she develops genomic surveillance strategies for antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, tuberculosis, viruses, parasites and, more recently, fungal pathogens.

Her journey in microbiology began in 2008 at the Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC), Brazil, where she worked in the Bacteriology and Mycology Laboratory during her undergraduate training. This early experience provided hands-on exposure to routine bacterial diagnostics, clinical microbiology, culture-based identification, and laboratory diagnostics for infectious diseases, laying the foundation for her future career in translational microbiology.

She completed her BSc in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) before obtaining an MSc in Parasitic Biology in the Amazon from the State University of Pará (UEPA). During this period, her research focused on infectious diseases of public health importance in the Brazilian Amazon, integrating microbiology, epidemiology and laboratory surveillance.

Her scientific career then became increasingly focused on mycobacterial diseases. During her PhD in Microbiology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), including a research fellowship at Université Paris-Sud (France), she investigated the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Her work combined classical microbiology with molecular typing methods and, later, whole-genome sequencing to understand transmission dynamics, drug resistance and bacterial evolution across Brazil and international settings.

Following her PhD, Dr Costa Conceição joined the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI-Fiocruz), where she expanded her expertise beyond tuberculosis genomics to include routine laboratory diagnostics. As a technologist and researcher, she worked on bacterial identification, genotyping of Mycobacterium species, antimicrobial resistance detection, and the implementation of molecular diagnostic approaches for both tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. This experience strengthened her understanding of how laboratory diagnostics can directly support patient care and disease surveillance.

In 2021, she joined Stellenbosch University as a postdoctoral researcher within the Tuberculosis Genomics Group (TBG). There, she played a leading role in developing and evaluating whole-genome sequencing workflows for routine tuberculosis diagnosis, supporting the implementation of genomics-guided clinical decision making through the SMARTT Trial and several national and international genomic surveillance initiatives. Her work contributed to the optimisation of laboratory protocols, sequencing pipelines, bioinformatics analyses, and implementation strategies for integrating genomics into public health laboratories.

Recognising that the challenges encountered in tuberculosis mirror those faced by many bacterial pathogens, Dr. Costa Conceição broadened her research to antimicrobial resistance across bacterial species. In 2026, she joined CERI as a Senior Researcher and established the Genomics of Antimicrobial Resistance (GEN-AMR) Research Unit, which integrates microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, implementation science and precision public health. The programme aims to develop genomic surveillance platforms that generate actionable evidence for antimicrobial stewardship, outbreak investigation, infection prevention and national surveillance systems across Africa and the Global South.

Today, her research spans the complete continuum from bacterial diagnostics and laboratory workflows to whole-genome sequencing, genomic epidemiology, computational biology and public health implementation. She has coordinated and contributed to multiple international collaborations, including SMARTT, GenPath Africa, PARR-TB, REVIGET-Brazil and GEMIBRA, while leading capacity-building initiatives that have trained researchers, clinicians and laboratory scientists across Africa and Latin America.

Dr. Costa Conceição has authored more than 55 peer-reviewed publications and has established herself as an international advocate for equitable access to genomic technologies. Her vision is to bridge laboratory science, genomics and public health by ensuring that advanced sequencing technologies become accessible, sustainable and impactful for routine infectious disease diagnosis and antimicrobial resistance surveillance in resource-limited settings.