###Novel probiotic interventions to reduce antimicrobial resistance in built environments
Project ID: 2228bd1219 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies
UCL Lead department: Eastman Dental Institute
Lead Supervisor: Sean Nair
Project Summary:
This PhD project will run alongside a research program developing probiotic interventions to reduce the emergence and persistence of pathogens in built environments, which is funded by the EPSRC at UCL (two postdoctoral fellows and a PhD student) and by the NSF to teams at UC San Diego (Professor Jack Gilbert and team) and John Hopkins University (Professor Michael Betenbaugh). The program vision is a complete transformation of how we design building materials, construct our buildings and maintain these environments. It aligns with the emerging health challenges associated with urbanization and the understanding of the beneficial role that benign microbes can play towards creating healthy bodies, buildings and cities.
Dry, nutrient-poor surfaces in build environments, such as hospitals, can result in the natural selection of microbes with antibiotic resistance and virulence traits that ensure their survival. Build environment associated microbiomes are predominantly sourced from human occupants, and in hospitals can aid the spread of infections. Our research has shown that certain “benign” environmental bacteria (probiotics) can be used to develop living materials that prevent colonization of build environment surfaces by antimicrobial bacteria.
The PhD project will involve identifying the best probiotics for use and their mechanisms of action using a variety of molecular and biochemical approaches. Next Generation Sequencing and whole metagenome sequencing will be used to study the microbiome of build environments, so that living models can be built and the effectiveness of probiotic interventions determined.
This cutting-edge PhD project will be cross-disciplinary and involve cross-continental collaboration with the US teams, including visits to US labs. The project will be based at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, Department of Microbial Diseases (Sean Nair) in collaboration with the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture (Richard Beckett).