Archives: Program

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a major threat to global public health care systems. The World Health Organization has predicted 10 million AMR-related deaths annually by 2050 if no drastic measures are taken.

Antifungal resistance is emerging as a major threat, and we urgently need to develop new antifungals that are not susceptible to current resistance mechanisms. This project will build on a longstanding collaboration with Neoculi Pty Ltd to identify new antifungal leads and develop existing leads as antifungal drugs through established pathways for laboratory-based efficacy testing, characterisation of modes of action and testing of efficacy in relevant in vivo models.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections of animals and humans, continues to pose significant challenges to public health care systems and global economies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new, broad-spectrum antimicrobials with novel chemistry and mechanisms of action, preventing further cross-resistance to existing drug classes. This project will continue the development of Neoculi’s lead antibacterial candidate NCL195 and improved analogues with the goal of developing a novel, orally delivered medicine for dogs for the treatment of resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Streptococcus canis infections. As NCL195 has antifungal activity, there is also potential it could be used in the treatment of generalized Malassezia pachydermatis infection which will be the subject of a separate project proposal.

Parasites cause billions of dollars in lost livestock production globally each year and have a severe impact on human health. This project will build on 4 years of collaboration with Neoculi Pty Ltd to identify new anti-protozoal leads and develop existing leads as anti-parasitic drugs through established pathways for laboratory-based efficacy testing, characterisation of modes of action and testing of efficacy in relevant in vivo models.

Although antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognised as a major threat to human health worldwide, the related phenomenon occurring in various water environments has been largely overlooked so far. The urban (including industrial) water cycle, which connects urban life, agriculture and the environment, is potentially a hotspot for the spread of AMR. Therefore, a better understanding of the distribution, transportation, and acquisition of AMR in the urban water cycle is critically important to improve the control of this emerging environmental and human health challenge. This project will build on 4 years collaboration with MGI Australia to develop a sequencing-based method and framework for AMR surveillance in the environment.

Wine polyphenols can disturb bacterial growth, and there is literature evidence
supporting the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of red wine products, including
their application as food preservatives. This project aims to exploit the antimicrobial
properties of post-wine production polyphenolic extracts from white and red wine and
complexes of these products with silver and other metallic nanoparticles, also known for
their antimicrobial properties.

Periodontal disease is one of the major indications for companion animals presenting to veterinary hospitals. In addition to teeth scaling and/or teeth removal under anaesthetic, animals with periodontal disease are frequently treated with systemically administered antibiotics including classes that are critically important to human health such as third generation cephalosporins. The availability of effective locally administered therapies follows good antimicrobial stewardship principles by reducing overall use whilst also protecting gut microbiota from dysbiosis associated with systemic treatment.

Invion Pty Ltd is an Australia-based Life Sciences Company developing a new generation of photodynamic therapies for the effective topical treatment of multiple cancer types as well as a range of infectious diseases. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves application of photosensitising agents that enter the target cells and are then activated by the application of light at a specific wavelength to create cidal reactive oxygen species, localised at the site of light exposure. This PhD project will follow up on promising preliminary in vitro data showing that several of Invion’s PDT compounds have antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens. It will involve further in vitro analysis to select compounds for cytotoxicity testing against a range of orally derived cell lines followed by in vivo efficacy testing in a rodent model. Ways in which the novel therapy can be applied to an anaesthetised animal will also be explored and if time permits small scale clinical trials will be undertaken in dogs with grade 4 periodontal disease.