Centre for Superbug Solutions - Earmarked
How bacteria form antibiotic resistant biofilms
Principal Advisor: Prof Mark Schembri (IMB)
Associate Advisors: A/Prof Markus Muttenthaler, Prof Waldemar Vollmer (IMB)
This project requires candidates to commence no later than Research Quarter 1, 2024, which means you must apply no later than 30 September, 2023.
This Earmarked Scholarship project is aligned with a recently awarded Category 1 research grant. It offers you the opportunity to work with leading researchers and contribute to large projects of national significance.
Biofilms are surface-attached clusters of bacteria encased in an extracellular matrix. They are a significant problem in many areas that influence our everyday life, including agriculture (e.g. plant and animal infections), industry (e.g. contamination of plumbing, ventilation and food industry surfaces) and medicine (e.g. ~80% of human infections are biofilm associated, including device-related infections). This project will apply molecular microbiology methodsto understand the structure, function and regulation of biofilms produced by uropathogenic E. coli that cause urinary tract infections, and investigate new strategies to disrupt biofilms. The project will build skills in cutting edge genetic screens, molecular microbiology, genome sequencing, bioinformatics, microscopy, imaging and animal infection models. Students with an interest in microbiology, bacterial pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance are encouraged to apply.
*Qualifies for an Earmarked Scholarship.
Identifying new targets for treatment of antimicrobial resistant infections
Principal Advisor: Prof Ian Henderson (IMB)
This project requires candidates to commence no later than Research Quarter 1, 2024, which means you must apply no later than 30 September, 2023.
This Earmarked Scholarship project is aligned with a recently awarded Category 1 research grant. It offers you the opportunity to work with leading researchers and contribute to large projects of national significance.
Driven by the introduction of antibiotics and vaccines, deaths from infectious diseases declined markedly during the 20th century. These unprecedented interventions paved the way for other medical treatments; cancer chemotherapy and major surgery would not be possible without effective antibiotics to prevent and treat bacterial infections. The evolution and widespread distribution of antibiotic-resistance elements, and the lack of new antimicrobials, threatens the last century of medical advances; without action the annual death toll from drug-resistant infections will increase from 0.5 million in 2016 to 10 million by 2050. New treatments are desperately needed including new antibiotics and alternative treatments such as phage. This project will address the molecular basis for the basis of phage interaction with the bacterial cell envelope and the potential for using this knowledge to treat antibiotic resistant infections.
*Qualifies for an Earmarked Scholarship.