Dr David Jenkins, University Hospital Leicester & Immediate Past President, BSAC

Dr David Jenkins qualified from King’s College Hospital Medical School in 1985 and trained in microbiology in Brighton and Newcastle. He has been a consultant microbiologist at Leicester since 1997, and for most of this period he has been the lead infection control doctor for the Trust, an 1800-bed organisation spread across three sites. After dealing with a rise in MRSA in the early 2000s, followed closely by Clostridioides difficile, his current challenge is controlling the spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales.

In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr Jenkins has served on several national bodies including the councils of the Royal College of Pathologists, the Healthcare Infection Society and the Central Sterilising Club. He is the immediate past President of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and a newly elected member of the executive committee of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

He is an associate professor at the University of Leicester, where he has developed and teaches the infection course to medical students. His research interests focus on the epidemiological and social science aspects of antimicrobial resistance.