The Multiscale Biofilm Research Hub (MBRH) has been established to promote interdisciplinary interactions and focus microbial biofilm related research at King’s.

Biofilm formation is an important adaptation and survival strategy commonly employed by bacteria and provides protection against environmental pressures. However, biofilms cause problems in many industrial and healthcare settings and have an economic cost of >£100bn in the UK. We have a unique focus to investigate microbial biofilms across scales, and this ranges from studies that focus on how external factors influence cellular/metabolic behaviour and population changes in clinical biofilm communities, through to unravelling specific mechanisms of biofilm formation/maturation through determining macromolecular structures. We have a strong track record in studying disease-associated biofilms in the oral cavity, vagina, and gut, as well as biofilm-associated enteric, chronic lung, and wound infections, and antimicrobial resistance and therapeutics, and technological developments. We have close clinical links and there is a wide range of technical expertise ranging from multi-omics to structural biology approaches.