Margaret "Peg" Riley 
Professor of Biology | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
The focus of Peg Riley's research is in the area of microbial evolution - namely antimicrobial resistance evolution - and drug development.
Spotlight
Areas of Expertise (5)
Evolution of microbial resistance
Alternatives to antibiotics
Drug Discovery
Antimicrobial Drug Discovery
Antibiotic Resistance
Biography
An engaging speaker, Peg Riley is regularly called on to explain microbes and bacteria and her research on antimicrobial resistance evolution and drug development. She has been called on several times to appear with Bill Nye the Science Guy and has been a popular TED talk presenter.
Video Appearances
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Education (3)
Harvard University: Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts: M.S.
University of Massachusetts Amherst: B.S.
Links (3)
Press Coverage (3)
Your Relationship (With Your Germs)
Science Rules! with Bill Nye Podcast online
2020-02-12
Microbial ecologist Peg Riley of University of Massachusetts Amherst returns to Science Rules to counsel listeners on their relationship with their microbiome.
The Right Drug for the Right Bug
Science Rules! with Bill Nye Podcast online
2019-05-23
Antibiotics have changed the world and helped keep us healthy. But, the use of broad spectrum drugs have had some serious consequences. Bacteria and disease expert Dr. Peg Riley has some big ideas about bacteria and how to deal with these consequences. She's also here to set the record straight about how often you should be washing your hands and just how safe vaccines are.
The Death of Antibiotics: We're Running Out of Effective Drugs to Fight Off an Army of Superbugs
Newsweek print
2019-05-05
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 2 million people a year are sickened in the U.S. by bacteria or fungi resistant to major antibiotics, and that 23,000 die from them. "We need to make a huge investment in other approaches," says Margaret Riley, a drug-resistance researcher at the University of Massachusetts. "And we need to make it 15 years ago."
