Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

Search for the next Superbug!

One of the greatest challenges in medicine currently is the rise of antibiotic resistant pathogens, particularly “superbugs” that are resistant to nearly all classes of antibiotics. Bacteria can acquire multiple types of resistance through a single genetic exchange; and diseases that were once easily treated now become life-threatening. Clinics discover these superbugs in the course of treating patients, but what if we had a way to detect these threats before they cause infections? My lab seeks out organisms with known and emerging antibiotic resistance that may hide in the human microbiome and circulate in the environment. We analyze sewage to obtain a population level sample, screening bacteria from thousands of people all at once. We assess the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in commensals (our “good” bacteria), the mechanisms by which this resistance is acquired, and the potential to spread the resistance to other bacteria. We test the antibiotics most commonly used in clinical treatment as well as last resort antibiotics to predict emerging trends in resistance that can threaten our final lines of defense. By characterizing the resistance capabilities of specific bacteria, we hope to catch the next superbug before it catches us.