Centre for Superbug Solutions

• Rapid detection of bacterial infections

• New drugs to fight superbugs

• Breakthrough solutions

• Animal Health

• Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery

"Infectious disease is a growing area for the company. In general, collaborations with the potential to explore mRNA-encoded vaccine antigens and antibodies are of high interest.We are also open to participating in grants as a corporate partner."

UQ Partners and collaborators

• Nick West – M tuberculosis testing
• Mark Walker – zince ionophores as antibiotic adjuvants
• James Fraserfungal testing and COADD
• Vito Ferro – antibody recruiting molecule approach to treating infections
• David Paterson – guidance on clinician needs
• Jason Roberst – PK/PD of novel antibiotics

External and Global collaborators

External/global partnerships and collaborations bring additional expertise and capabilities within the network of CSS researchers. Examples of the effectiveness of these collaborations include Prof Robyn Patel (Mayo Clinic), an expert in biofilm implant infections, who has conducted studies on a new glycopeptide antibiotic CSS has developed. A novel nitroimidazole scaffold with activity against parasites and M. tuberculosis has been shown to be effective in advanced in vivo models conducted by Prof John Kelly at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (T. cruzi parasite – Chagas disease) and Prof Scott Gary Franzblau at the University of Chicago (tuberculosis).

Collaborate with us

If you are a superbug researcher, clinician, or advocacy or community group interested in collaborating with the Centre, we would love to hear from you.

Please contact IMB’s Centre for Superbug Solutions, Dr Mark Blaskovich on m.blaskovich@imb.uq.edu.au

Commercial opportunities

IMB research is managed through The University of Queensland’s commercialisation company, UniQuest. 

UniQuest is one of Australia’s leading research commercialisation companies, specialising in global technology transfer and facilitating access for all business sectors to world-class university expertise, intellectual property and facilities.

UniQuest works closely with IMB’s Centre for Superbug Solutions to pursue commercial opportunities with leading pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotech companies, ensuring the centre’s discoveries improve quality of life for all Australians living with pain. 

To enquire about commercial opportunities with the centre, please contact Dr Mark Ashton on m.ashton@uniquest.com.au, while for collaborative research opportunities please contact IMB’s Centre for Superbug Solutions, Dr Mark Blaskovich on m.blaskovich@imb.uq.edu.au

• Is Australia doing enough to stop superbugs?
• An Overview of Antibiotics – Longitude Prize 2014
• Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance
• IMI’s New Drugs 4 Bad Bugs (ND4BB)
• Antibiotic Action
• NPS MedicineWise
• The Conversation – recent articles on antibiotics
• World Health Organization: Antimicrobial resistance

• “The antimicrobial potential of cannabidiol”; Mark A.T. Blaskovich*, Angela Kavanagh, Alysha G. Elliott, Bing Zhang, Soumya Ramu, Maite Amadao, Gabrielle Lowe, Alexandra O. Hinton, Do Minh Thu Pham, Johannes Zuegg, Neil Beare, Diana Quach, Marc D. Sharp, Joe Pogliano, Ashleigh P. Rogers, Dena Lyras, Lendl Tan, Nick West, David Crawford, Marnie Peterson, Matthew Callahan, and Michael Thurn 2020 COMMSBIO-20-1951-T

• “Metal Complexes as a Promising Source for New Antibiotics” Angelo Frei, Johannes Zuegg, Alysha G. Eliott, Murray Baker, Stefan Braese, Christopher Brown, Feng Cheng, Christopher Dowson, Gilles Dujardin, Nicole Jung, Paden A. King, Massimiliano Massi, John Moat, Heba A. Mohamed, Anna K. Renfrew, Peter. J. Rutledge, Peter J. Sadler, Matthew H. Todd, Charlotte E. Willans, Justin J. Wilson, Matthew A Cooper, Mark A. T. Blaskovich*, Chemical Science 2020,11, 2627-2639  doi: 10.1039/C9SC06460

• “How to facilitate early stage antibiotic discovery” Johannes Zuegg, Karl Hansford, Alysha G. Elliott, Mark A.T. Blaskovich, ACS Infect Dis  (2020) 6, 1302-1304  DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00163

• “An amphipathic peptide antibiotic to combat multi-drug-resistant bacteria”; Alysha G. Elliott, Johnny X. Huang, Søren Neve, Johannes Zuegg, Amy K. Cain, Christine J. Boinett, Lars Barquist, Mark A. Schembri, Jason Steen, Ingrid A. Edwards, Carina V Lundberg, Mark S. Butler, Mark A. T. Blaskovich, Sergio Lociuro and Matthew A. Cooper. Nature Communications (2020) 11, 3184. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16950-x

• “Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship of 2-Nitroimidazopyrazinones with Improved Physicochemical Properties”; Chee Wei Ang, Lendl Tan, Melissa L. Sykes, Anjan Debnath, Janet C. Reid, Nicholas P. West, Vicky M. Avery, Matthew A. Cooper, Mark A.T. Blaskovich. J. Med. Chem. submitted Aug 5 2020, Manuscript ID: jm-2020-01372v

• “Structure, Function, and Biosynthetic Origin of Octapeptin Antibiotics Active against Extensively Drug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria”; Tony Velkov, Alejandra Gallardo-Godoy, James Swarbrick, Mark. A. T. Blaskovich, Alysha G. Elliott, Meling Han, Philip E. Thompson, Kade D. Roberts, Johnny X. Huang, Bernd Becker, Mark S. Butler, Lawrence H. Lash, Sónia Troeira Henriques, Roger L. Nation, Sivashangarie Sivanesan, Marco Sani, Frances Separovic, Haydyn Mertens, Dieter Bulach, Torsten Seemann, Jian Li, Matthew A. Cooper; Cell Chemical Biology, (2018), 25 (4) 380-391. DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2018.01.005, PMID: 22183171, PMCID: PMC3294921

• Fluorescent antibiotics: new research tools to fight antibiotic resistance”; M. Rhia L. Stone, Mark S. Butler, Wanida Phetsang, Matthew A. Cooper, Mark A.T. Blaskovich*; Trends in Biotechnology (2018) 36, 523-536. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.01.004, PMID: 29478675 (cover article)  *corresponding author

• “Protein inspired antibiotics active against vancomycin and daptomycin resistant bacteria”; Mark A.T. Blaskovich*, Karl A. Hansford, Yujing Gong, Mark S. Butler, Craig Muldoon, Johnny X. Huang, Soumya Ramu, Alberto B. Silva, Mu Cheng, Angela M. Kavanagh, Zyta Ziora, Rajaratnam Premraj, Fredrik Lindahl, Tanya A. Bradford, June C. Lee, Tomislav Karoli, Ruby Pelingon, David J. Edwards, Maite Amado, Alysha G. Elliott, Wanida Phetsang, Noor Huda Daud, Johan E. Deecke, Hanna E. Sidjabat, Sefetogi Ramaologa, Johannes Zuegg, Jason R. Betley , Andrew P.G. Beevers, Richard A.G. Smith , Jason A. Roberts, David L. Paterson, Matthew A. Cooper* Nature Communications (2018) 9, 22. DOI:10.1038/s41467-017-02123-w. PMID: PMC5750218, PMCID: PMC5750218

• “Fluoroquinolone-Derived Fluorescent Probes for Studies of Bacterial Penetration and Efflux”; M. Rhia L. Stone, Muriel Masi, Wanida Phetsang, Jean-Marie Pagès, Matthew A Cooper and Mark A. T. Blaskovich* MedChemComm (2019) 10, 901-906. DOI: 10.1039/C9MD00124G. PMID:   31303987, PMCID: PMC659621

• “Light-activated Rhenium Complexes with Dual Mode of Action against Gram-positive and Gram-negative Bacteria”.Angelo Frei, Maite Amado, Matthew A Cooper; Mark A. T. Blaskovich*  Chem: Eur J. 2020, 26 2852-2858. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904689, PMID: 31788867 preprint ChemRxiv Sept 25 2019 Doi: 10.26434/chemrxiv.9900875.v1 “Light-activated Rhenium Complexes with Dual Mode of Action against Gram-positive and Gram-negative Bacteria”.Angelo Frei, Maite Amado, Matthew A Cooper; Mark A. T. Blaskovich*  Chem: Eur J. 2020, 26 2852-2858. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904689, PMID: 31788867 preprint ChemRxiv Sept 25 2019 Doi: 10.26434/chemrxiv.9900875.v1

The Centre has an ongoing array of research projects, spanning undergraduate summer and winter research, Honours, Masters and PhD. Please contact individual group leaders for areas of interest.