Wayne State researcher awarded NIH grant to study new treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections

Dr. Michael J. Rybak, professor of pharmacy at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Wayne State University, has been awarded a two-year R21 grant totaling more than $455,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to study new ways to treat bacterial infections that no longer respond to antibiotics.

Rybak, who directs the Anti-Infective Research Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacy Practice will lead the study focusing on Enterococcus faecium, a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening infections, especially in hospitals.

As resistance to frontline antibiotics continues to increase, the project will examine how bacteriophages can be used alongside existing antibiotics to improve treatment. Daptomycin, a commonly used antibiotic for these infections, has become less effective in some cases because of growing resistance, making it increasingly important to find new treatment options.

The research will examine how bacteriophages (viruses that infect and kill bacteria) and antibiotics work together, with the goal of improving bacterial killing while reducing the chances that the bacteria become resistant to treatment.

Using advanced lab tests and ex vivo models that mimic real infections, the study will evaluate how these combinations perform under conditions that closely resemble what happens in the body. The project aims to better understand how to use new treatments together with existing antibiotics more effectively.

The findings are expected to support future studies and could help guide the development of better treatment options for patients with difficult-to-treat infections.

"R21 awards are important grants that allow researchers to explore new, innovative ideas that are high risk but have the potential to impact the lives of many," said Dr. Ezemenari M. Obasi, vice president for research & innovation at Wayne State. "Dr. Rybak's research is an excellent example of the critical research happening at Wayne State that has the potential to impact our community and beyond. I look forward to the results of this study."

The study addresses the growing global health concern around antibiotic resistance. By advancing research for new treatment strategies that combine emerging and existing therapies, this work has the potential to improve outcomes for patients facing serious, hard-to-treat infections.