His work focuses on understanding how drugs against pathogens work and how resistance to drugs comes about. He is director of Glasgow Polyomics, a state of the art facility specialising in genomic, proteomic and metabolomic technologies and their application to a range of subjects. He also directs the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) and advises several international organisations on issues surrounding drug development and resistance issues including the World Health Organisation and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative.