A new $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health, will fund Dr. Xuejun Zhu’s research on how to design synergistic antibiotics that help fight drug resistance. |
Image: Texas A&M Engineering
Dr. Xuejun Zhu, assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support her research on discovering and developing new pharmaceuticals and therapeutic alternatives to address and combat the rapid emergence of drug resistance.
The new funding allows Zhu to study and discover synergistic antibiotics or pharmaceuticals by identifying and using naturally occurring resources such as microbes to maximize the potential of currently available drugs. Combined, this type of drug cocktail is an attractive approach to addressing and combating drug resistance.
Zhu notes that the trial-and-error cycle of combining antibiotics is tedious and often results in an ineffective drug cocktail. She said that many antibiotics are produced by many natural microbes that never have a drug resistance problem, so those microbes need some solution to fight against those resistant antibiotics.
Zhu’s project, titled “Discovery and development of drug cocktails designed by nature,” outlines two research directions that could lead to the discovery of effective drug cocktail recipes that combat drug resistance. The project would also provide fundamental insights into the design rules of combination therapy and address challenges in producing these compounds.
The discovery of co-produced and synergistic natural products remains difficult because it is challenging to predict co-produced natural products based on the genomes of the microbes that synthesize them. It’s also challenging due to their complex chemical structures.
“I expect our findings will provide some insights on how to design synergistic antibiotics that help fight the antibiotic resistance crisis, and I hope we can also provide effective production strategies for making those good antibiotics,” Zhu said.
Zhu was awarded the Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA) grant from NIGMS. MIRA enhances an investigator’s scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs by providing stability and flexibility for the research in their laboratory during the five-year grant.
“I feel very honored to receive this grant because I can focus more, maximize my research productivity and recruit a talented team to further this exciting research,” Zhu said.
The new funding allows Zhu to study and discover synergistic antibiotics or pharmaceuticals by identifying and using naturally occurring resources such as microbes to maximize the potential of currently available drugs. Combined, this type of drug cocktail is an attractive approach to addressing and combating drug resistance.
Zhu notes that the trial-and-error cycle of combining antibiotics is tedious and often results in an ineffective drug cocktail. She said that many antibiotics are produced by many natural microbes that never have a drug resistance problem, so those microbes need some solution to fight against those resistant antibiotics.
Zhu’s project, titled “Discovery and development of drug cocktails designed by nature,” outlines two research directions that could lead to the discovery of effective drug cocktail recipes that combat drug resistance. The project would also provide fundamental insights into the design rules of combination therapy and address challenges in producing these compounds.
The discovery of co-produced and synergistic natural products remains difficult because it is challenging to predict co-produced natural products based on the genomes of the microbes that synthesize them. It’s also challenging due to their complex chemical structures.
“I expect our findings will provide some insights on how to design synergistic antibiotics that help fight the antibiotic resistance crisis, and I hope we can also provide effective production strategies for making those good antibiotics,” Zhu said.
Zhu was awarded the Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA) grant from NIGMS. MIRA enhances an investigator’s scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs by providing stability and flexibility for the research in their laboratory during the five-year grant.
“I feel very honored to receive this grant because I can focus more, maximize my research productivity and recruit a talented team to further this exciting research,” Zhu said.