Mr Ian Boostrom

Overview

I am a Laboratory Manager in the School of Medicine who also specializes in microbial genomics, nanopore sequencing, and laboratory-to-computational workflows for medical microbiology research. I more broadly support shared laboratory infrastructure, procurement, contracts, training, onboarding, liaising with NHS and Cardiff University estates/management teams, and experimental troubleshooting across a busy medical microbiology research environment.

A central theme of my current work is bridging the gap between complex bioinformatics tools and the practical needs of laboratory researchers, service-adjacent research, and multidisciplinary collaborators brought together by Prof. Brad Spiller. I am particularly interested in helping colleagues make effective use of Cardiff University's excellent supercomputing resources through ARCCA, including through my involvement as a member of the ARCCA Operational User Group.

I am able to engage with a wide range of collaborators by drawing on experience in clinical laboratory settings, international and low-resource contexts, and work involving regulated, clinically significant, and higher-containment microorganisms. While not strictly applicable to UK laboratories, I have long maintained an American Medical Technologists accreditation and strongly support their efforts to enable practical and resilient certification routes for Allied Health Professionals.

My broader interests include antimicrobial resistance, diagnostic microbiology (ESGMD member), Legionella (ESGLI member), pathogen genomics, long-read sequencing, FAIR and reproducible data practices (see Dr. Robert Andrews), advancing resilient and impactful trials (see Dr. Lucy Jones), research infrastructure, and the practical delivery of advanced sequencing methods in shared laboratory environments. I have also become increasingly interested in medical mycology through the privilege of hosting Prof. Lewis White and his research team on our floor at the University Hospital of Wales.