Sally Bloomfield qualified initially as a pharmacist, but then went on to develop a career in microbiology, with a specific interest in the prevention of infectious diseases and in microbial quality assurance. For 25 years, Dr Bloomfield was an academic in the Department of Pharmacy, Kings College London. During this time, her research interests were mainly concerned with the study of antimi¬crobial agents used in the community and in medicine. Most particularly, she was involved in studying the molecular and physiological basis for the development of resistance to antimicrobial agents. She was also involved in a range of projects studying the role of hygiene, including the role of cleaning and disinfection, in preventing the spread of infectious disease in the hospital, food processing, domestic and other environments. From 1997 to 2003 Dr Bloomfield joined Unilever Research to develop a programme involved with raising awareness of the importance of hygiene in the domestic setting. During this time was involved in setting up the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) (www.ifh-homehygiene.org).

In 1995, Dr Bloomfield was awarded the Rudolf Schulke Hygiene Prize, for outstanding contribution in the field of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. She was also a member of Comité Européen de Normalisation - CEN TC 216 - Antiseptics and Disinfectants – from 1990-2003.

Dr Bloomfield currently acts as a consultant in hygiene and infectious disease with particular reference to the home setting. She is Chairman and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of IFH. Through these roles she is continuing to develop her work in raising awareness of the importance of home hygiene in preventing the transmission of infectious disease, and developing and promoting home hygiene practice based on sound scientific principles. She is also working to develop understanding of “hygiene issues” such as the “hygiene hypothesis” and “antimicrobial resistance”.

Cogan, T.A, Bloomfield, S.F. and Humphrey, T.J. (1999) The effectiveness of hygiene procedures for the prevention of cross contamination from chicken carcasses in the domestic kitchen . Letter in Applied Microbiology, 29, 354-358

Barker, J. and Bloomfield, S.F. (2000) Survival of Salmonella in bathrooms and toilets in domestic homes following salmonellosis. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 89, 137-144.

Bloomfield, S.F (2000) Hygiene in the home – a shared responsibility. Microbiology Today, 27, 112.
Barker, J, Stevens, D. and Bloomfield, S.F (2001) Spread and prevention of virus infections in community settings and domestic homes. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 91, 7-21

Bloomfield, S.F. (2001) Preventing infectious disease in the domestic setting: a risk-based approach. American Journal of Infection Control, 29, 207-209.

Bloomfield, S.F. (2001) Gastrointestinal disease in the domestic setting. What are the issues? Journal of Infection, 43, 23-29.

Cogan, T.A., Slader, J., Bloomfield, S.F. and Humphrey, T.J. (2002) Achieving hygiene in the domestic kitchen: the effectiveness of commonly-used cleaning products. Journal of Applied Microbiology 92, 885-892.

Bloomfield, S.F. (2002) Significance of biocide usage and antimicrobial resistance in domiciliary environments. Journal of Applied Microbiology B92/1, 144-157S.

Gorman, R., Bloomfield, S.F and Adley, C.C (2002) A study of cross contamination of food-borne pathogens in the domestic kitchen in the Republic of Ireland. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2411 76, 143-150.

Bloomfield, S.F. (2002) Home hygiene: a risk based approach. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 205, 1-8

Gilbert, P. McBain, AJ,. Bloomfield, S.F. (2002) Biocide abuse and antimicrobial resistance: being clear about the issues, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 50, 137-139.

Bloomfield, S.F and Scott, E.A (2003) Developing an effective policy for home hygiene: a risk based approach. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 13, S57-66.

Barker, J., Naeeni, M and Bloomfield, S. F. (2003) The effects of cleaning and disinfection in reducing Salmonella contamination in a laboratory model kitchen. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 95, 1351-1360.

Barker, J., Vipond, I.B. and Bloomfield, S. F. 2004. The effects of cleaning and disinfection in reducing the spread of Norwalk-like virus contamination via environmental surfaces. Journal of Hospital Infection, 58, 42-49.

Bloomfield S, Beumer R, Exner M, Fara G, Scott E, Nath KJ Disinfection and the prevention of infectious disease. American Journal of Infection Control 2004; 32: 311-313.

van Nierop W, Dusé AG, Marais E, Aithma N, Thothobolo N, Kassel M, Stewart R, Potgieter A, Fernandes B, Galpin JS and Bloomfield SF. Contamination of chicken carcasses in Gauteng, South Africa, by Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter. International Journal of Food Microbiology 2005; 99: 1-6.

Bloomfield, S.F., Stanwell-Smith, R., Crevel, R.W.R and Pickup, J. Too clean, or not too clean: the Hygiene Hypothesis and home hygiene. Clinical and Experimental Allergy 2006; 36, 402-425.