Microbiologist awarded major Wellcome grant to investigate superbug evolution
Long-term grant awarded to lead a pioneering investigation into one of the world’s most dangerous and understudied pathogens.
Researcher in the School of Biosciences, and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, Professor David Grainger, has been awarded a prestigious long-term grant from the Wellcome Trust to lead a pioneering investigation into one of the world’s most dangerous and understudied pathogens: Acinetobacter baumannii.
The research will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Oxford (led by Professor Stephan Uphoff) and the University of Exeter (led by Professor Edze Westra), combining expertise in microbiology, genetics, and evolutionary biology.
The new funding will allow Professor Grainger and his team to focus on how Acinetobacter baumannii survives and spreads in hospitals. This superbug is known for quickly changing and resisting treatments, making it harder to control and more dangerous for patients.
Thanks to the eight-year grant, the team can concentrate on the science, rather than repeated applications for further funding, and how their discoveries could help doctors and hospitals in real life. The funding also supports multiple research staff members, helping build a strong team focused on solving this global health challenge.
What is Acinetobacter baumannii?
This superbug is listed by the World Health Organization as the top priority pathogen. It causes serious infections in hospitals and is very good at resisting antibiotics. Yet, it’s still not well understood - less than 1% of scientific papers in bacteriology even mention it.
Professor Grainger’s team wants to find out how A. baumannii changes so quickly and survives in tough conditions. Their early research suggests the bacteria might be “cheating” at evolution, changing faster than expected.
A major reason for A. baumannii’s success as a human pathogen is its ability to rapidly change properties. Our preliminary work suggests it can ‘cheat’ at evolution. We want to understand how it does this.
Research aims to transform our understanding of Bacterial Evolution
The team will study the bacteria’s behaviour in detail and track how it affects patients in hospitals. They hope to discover exactly how this “cheating” works and whether other bacteria do it too. This could change how scientists think about evolution and help fight antibiotic resistance.
We expect to understand the fine molecular details of the evolutionary ‘cheating’ that we’ve identified. We also expect to monitor the consequences of this in hospitals and during infections. Our findings may also apply to other bacteria and could change how we think about evolution in microbiology.
This project represents a major step forward in the global effort to combat antimicrobial resistance and improve outcomes for patients affected by bacterial infections.