Jackie Wright
Jackie Wright is a lead senior scientist at PHF Science working across the Health Security group as a subject matter expert in enteric microorganisms associated with zoonoses, foodborne illness and person-person transmission.
Qualifications
Jackie earned her MSc in Microbiology at Massey University, Palmerston North.
About
Jackie's first collaboration with Public Health staff was in 1990, publishing a joint study reviewing Giardiasis in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. This led to a one-year study of gastroenteritis in the same region (Wright JM. Gastrointestinal infection in a New Zealand Community: a one year study. Massey University 1996. (Thesis)). The aim was to examine all faecal samples received for a wide range of pathogens using a variety of methods to better determine true prevalence. As a result, she isolated the first reported New Zealand case of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) O157 and found that some pathogens were more common than had been previously thought – knowledge that contributed to the 1996 update of the New Zealand schedule of notifiable diseases. Jackie first joined ESR (now PHF Science) in 1994 where she led the Enteric Reference team and collaborated with peers both internally and externally on Campylobacter, Salmonella, VTEC, Vibrio and Yersinia. A lifestyle change in the late 1990s saw Jackie move away from patient focussed work to enteric pathogen detection work in the commercial food sector before moving back to human diagnostic microbiology and quality in 2001. In 2005 Jackie began a 12-year stint multitasking in a small community laboratory where she found time to investigate non-enteric issues such as the Haematology of Hepatitis A and iron deficiency in toddlers caused by a diet of predominantly cows’ milk. Jackie has an extensive background in laboratory quality, both ISO 15189 and ISO 17025, and is focussed on ensuring that information gained from testing is both accurate, well conveyed and fit for purpose. On returning to PHF Science in 2017 she again led the Enteric Reference team through to November 2022 during which time she spearheaded the transition of enteric bacteria epidemiological typing from historic phenotypic methods to whole genome sequencing based analyses. Jackie’s very broad work experience throughout primary, secondary and tertiary human health laboratories has given her an unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge. She is now part of the Food and Risk Assessment team within the Health Security group (based at PHF’s Christchurch Science Centre). Throughout her professional life she has collaborated with other health professionals to collectively extend our knowledge on organism pathogenicity and disease risk factors – information used to assist in formulating interventions to limit the spread of infection and improve individual and public health. This work is evidenced in her linked ORCID profile.