Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is collaborating with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to explore and develop a novel platform or chemical process for synthesizing antibiotic compounds with a $125,000 grant. The project, one of two winning proposals this cycle, is supported by the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program designed to foster collaboration between SwRI and UTSA. SwRI and UTSA will work together to combat the growing threat antimicrobial resistance poses to global health by developing a proof-of-concept platform to potentially create a whole library of new antibiotics.
" Dr. Shawn Blumberg, lead scientist in SwRI's Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division and co-principal investigator (PI) of the project The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is either a direct cause or a contributing factor in millions of deaths worldwide each year. The crisis is exacerbated by what WHO calls "an antibiotics pipeline and access crisis.
" Blumberg and his co-PI, Dr. Stanton F. McHardy of UTSA's College of Sciences, will focus on creating a pipeline of new polycyclic antibiotics.
This class of antibiotics includes tetracyclines, commonly used to treat pneumonia; anthracyclines, used to fight cancer; and polycyclic xanthones, natural compounds with known health benefits. "Polycyclic xanthones offer a variety of potential therapeutic applications, but they haven't been assessed yet," said McHardy. "With the ne.