Diggle awarded CFF pilot grant
Steve Diggle awarded a pilot grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
"Chronic infections found in cystic fibrosis (CF) lungs are debilitating, highly antibiotic resistant and often lethal. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) is a common pathogen found in CF lungs and is highly resistant to multiple classes of antibiotic which contributes hugely to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Pa populations in the CF lung are phenotypically diverse, but little is understood about the biology or clinical relevance of phenotypic diversity. Understanding how diversity contributes to virulence and AMR and how antibiotic treatment impacts on diversity in Pa populations is crucial for the future development of effective diagnostic and treatment strategies.
We have been awarded a 2 year pilot grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to study how diversity within Pa populations impacts on AMR. In collaboration with Emory, we will establish a ‘biobank’ of Pa populations from individual CF patients allowing us to generate Pa population level data that can be compared to single Pa isolates sourced from the populations. The main questions we would like to answer are: (i) how does antibiotic treatment impact on phenotypic diversity within Pa populations; (ii) how does the extent of Pa diversity impact on AMR resistance within patients and susceptibility tests."
Image: Diversity of P. aeruginosa isolates sourced from 2 CF sputum samples (source: Madeline Gray & Sheyda Azimi)