Improving on nature: diversifying glycopeptide antibiotics to kill the bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus

Many bacteria have become resistant to existing antibiotics, and we are badly in need of new antibiotics and strategies to combat them. My research centres on the vancomycin-type antibiotics, a therapy of last resort. I aim to (1) develop novel ways to kill bacteria with these antibiotics and (2) understand and re-engineer the ways in which these antibiotics are produced. This will allow my team will develop new antibiotics to kill bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus.