Libin Xu, Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, and Brian Werth, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, have received a Royalty Research Fund award of $38,175 for their project, “Targeting Altered Lipid Metabolism in Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.”
The RRF is funded from royalty and licensing fee income generated by the UW technology transfer program. It supports UW faculty seeking to advance new directions in research in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal; for faculty who are junior in rank; and/or if the award might provide opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding.
“Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are becoming more resistant to the cell-membrane targeting antimicrobials that help manage these infections,” said Dr. Xu. “This may be due to genetic mutations that lead to changes in the cell membranes of these MRSA strains.”
Dr. Xu and Dr. Werth, as co-Principal Investigators on the project, will test their hypothesis that changes in cell membranes contribute to the antimicrobial resistance, and that these changes can be modulated using small molecules of known lipid biosynthesis inhibitors to re-sensitize the mutated MRSA strains.
Congratulations to Drs. Xu and Werth on being funded for this exciting project!
To read more about the collaboration of Dr Xu and Dr Werth, click here.
To study with researchers like Drs. Werth and Xu, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.