Towards antibacterials without resistance (2009-2014)

Antibiotics have transformed our lives, but bacterial resistance undermines their effectiveness while treatment options dry up because new antibacterial development has slowed to a trickle. My research will add this potential crisis, by developing antibacterials with an entirely new mode of action that avoid resistance by (1) not targeting bacterial viability and (2) targeting a narrow spectrum of bacteria. These novel compounds will block the DSB proteins essential for assembling whole arsenals of bacterial virulence factors. DSB proteins from pathogenic bacteria will be characterised and DSB inhibitors created to better understand virulence and to develop anti-virulence agents more effective and more enduring than current antibiotics.