Research Projects

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most significant public health challenges of our times. Current estimates suggest that by 2050 infections caused by multidrug resistant pathogens will be the single largest killer, eclipsing even cancer, and will be associated with an economic burden of $100 trillion dollars.  There is therefore an urgent need for the development of novel antibiotics that can be used to treat infections caused by multidrug resistant bacterial pathogens. We have identified a novel synthetic chemical scaffold that displays highly potent antimicrobial activity against a range of important human pathogens.

This project will focus on the development of next generation analogues of this scaffold and the testing of these analogues against an extensive panel of clinically relevant multidrug resistant superbugs. A combination of techniques will be used in this project, including computational modelling and in silico docking, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, cell based cytotoxicity assays and in vivo efficacy testing using murine models of infectious disease. Students will develop a comprehensive set of skills in each of these areas and will play an important role in developing this exciting antimicrobial scaffold into a clinically viable drug.

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information and application enquiries