Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
2506 The University of Texas at San Antonio (144394)
Principal Investigator: Chambers, James
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 30,000
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): No
Start and End Dates: 9/1/22 - 8/31/23
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: SCIENCES
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Cos Molecular Microbiology & I
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Next-Generation Phage Therapy
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
CFDA: 0
Program Title: none
Note:
SAMs 1.1.1; For this research study, modern medicine has been confounded by several diseases, including multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, metastatic cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. A PI (PS) has proposed that de-confounding requires discovery of the key underlying problem to be solved for each disease. For MDR bacterial infections, his proposal for this discovery begins with a focus on (1) phage therapy, and, within this context, (2) screening for phages with high persistence in blood among aggressive (lytic) phages used for phage therapy. Our first short-range objective is to develop a procedure to predict persistence in < 24-hour determination of phage characteristics. Work is being conducted in the Serwer-laboratory at The University of Texas Health Center, San Antonio (UTHSA), with collaboration by the clinically oriented, Cara Gonzales-laboratory at UTHSA. A high-performing Nigerian MD, previously Gates Foundation funded, will be a major participant. Our second short-range objective is to phage therapy-test the procedures developed under the first short-range objective. This work will be done in the Chambers-laboratory, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a major laboratory for work with pathogens. Achieving objectives is expected to (1) bring phage therapy to FDA-approval levels in a commercial context and (2) raise the standing of UTHSA/UTSA to top tier in therapy of MDR infections.
Discussion: No discussion notes