Recently, Professor Tony Zhou from IMPH received a third R01 grant from NIH to support his world-leading research program in developing novel inhalation therapeutics fighting notorious antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health. Gram-negative ‘superbugs’ Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii have been highlighted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), CDC and NIH among the top dangerous multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms. Very unfortunately, the progress to develop novel antibiotics is slow, and lung infections caused by these resistant pathogens are deadly.
Led by Professor Zhou and supported by 6 federal grants with totally $10M funding (including 3 NIH R01 grants), this multi-national team has built up a world-leading research program targeting antimicrobial resistance, aiming to develop new inhalation medicines for treatment of resistant bacterial infections in the lungs. The team include top antimicrobial experts from Australia, Thailand, and USA.
So far two US patents, four patent applications, and 70 journal publications as outcomes of this research program. Commercialization of these inventions is progressing with a goal to develop viable pharmaceutical products for effective treatment of deadly resistant bacterial lung infections.