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The physics of antibiotic resistance evolution in spatially-structured multicellular assemblies

Objective

The rise in bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotic treatment poses a major global health challenge. Addressing this challenge is not just a clinical issue: understanding bacterial resistance evolution calls for an interdisciplinary approach, in which the development of new physics, in coordination with biology, chemistry and engineering, has a central role to play. In particular, statistical physics, to predict the stochastic emergence of drug-resistant mutants, must be integrated with soft matter and chemical physics, to understand the spatial organization of the bacterial populations within which this happens.

Bacterial infections are very often spatially heterogeneous. This is known to influence the outcome of antibiotic treatment – for example bacterial biofilms, which form on the surfaces of medical implants, are notoriously hard to remove. However, much less attention has been paid to the role of spatial structure in the evolution of drug resistance, i.e. the emergence and spread of genetically drug-resistant bacterial strains.

I will lead a research programme which will for the first time uncover the two-way link between the emergence of spatial structure in bacterial multicellular assemblies and the evolution of drug resistance. The programme builds on my current theoretical, simulation and experimental work. I will first determine the basic principles of evolution in drug gradients using theoretical models, combined with experiments in a controlled, 1D geometry. I will then explore how these principles translate to the more realistic scenario of bacterial biofilms, where spatial structure and drug gradients are emergent properties, using advanced computer simulation methods and both confocal microscopy and evolution experiments. In the final part of the programme, I will use these insights to reveal optimization principles for the design of evolution-resistant surface coatings for applications in medical devices.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2015-CoG

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Host institution

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 826 984,00
Address
OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
United Kingdom

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Region
Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 826 984,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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