Birmingham clinician awarded £1.8M to develop AI-driven treatments for drug-resistant eye infections

A University of Birmingham researcher, Dr Darren Shu Jeng Ting, has been awarded a prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinician Scientist Fellowship, worth £1.8 million, to develop novel treatments for infectious keratitis (IK) - a leading cause of corneal blindness globally - and tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. 

Dr Darren Ting, Birmingham Health Partners (BHP) Clinician Scientist Fellow and Consultant Ophthalmologist, specialises in the diagnosis and management of corneal and ocular surface diseases. He will lead the pioneering research over the next five years into the development of new antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) - small molecular peptides that can kill or inhibit harmful microorganisms - for treating IK and overcoming antimicrobial resistance. 

Speaking about his award, Dr Darren Ting said: "I feel incredibly privileged to be awarded this prestigious 5-year MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship (with ~£1.8 million funding). This generous support provides a truly exciting opportunity to advance my research on antimicrobial peptides to treat corneal infection and tackle antimicrobial resistance — two urgent global health challenges.

I am deeply grateful to my mentors, collaborators, team and previous/current funders (including MRC, RCOphth, Fight for Sight, and Birmingham Health Partners) whose support and guidance have made this possible. I look forward to building on our work together to make a real difference for patients worldwide."

Addressing a global health crisis

Infectious keratitis, commonly known as corneal infection, is responsible for around 5 million cases of blindness globally, and causes an estimated 2 million cases of monocular blindness each year. Patients often endure severe pain, prolonged hospital stays, and reduced quality of life due to limited treatment options and the declining effectiveness of antibiotics. No new classes of antibiotics have been developed and introduced to the clinic since the 1980s.

AMR further complicates treatment, with resistant infections causing more than 1 million deaths annually worldwide. Dr Ting’s project will develop new AMPs that are less likely to induce resistance, using a two-pronged approach that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and nanotechnology to accelerate discovery and clinical translation.

Interdisciplinary and international collaboration

The research will bring together expertise from across the University of Birmingham and global institutions, whose expertise range from translational ophthalmology, material science, microbial genomics and AI in drug discovery.

At Birmingham, Dr Ting will collaborate and capitalise on the local expertise, including:

• Professor Liam Grover (Material Science)
• Professor Alan McNally (Microbial Genomics)
• Professor Saaeha Rauz (Translational Ophthalmology)
• Professor Andrew Beggs (Genomics)

To maximise the success of delivering this highly ambitious interdisciplinary ambition, Dr Ting has forged international partnerships with world-renowned researchers, including:

• Associate Professor Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, University of Pennsylvania (AI in AMP discovery)
• Professor James Collins, MIT (AI in drug discovery)
• Professor Robert Hancock, University of British Columbia (AMP discovery and development)
• Professor Jodhbir Mehta and Associate Professor Rajamani Lakshminarayanan, Singapore Eye Research Institute (AMP discovery and development for ocular infection)

The MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship is awarded to outstanding clinically active healthcare professionals, enabling them to establish themselves as independent researchers. The award provides support for their research programme, career development, and training over five years. 

This award further strengthens the University of Birmingham’s reputation as a hub for translational research, innovation in antimicrobial resistance, and clinical excellence in ophthalmology.