Dr Freya Harrison

Measles is a viral infection, so antibiotics don’t treat it directly. But it weakens the immune system, leading to bacterial infections like pneumonia or ear infections, which do require antibiotics.

Evidence-based antibiotic prescribing for urinary tract infections (UTIs) would increase treatment success and improve antibiotic stewardship. Current…

The rise of antifungal resistance and limited treatment options highlight the urgent need for new drug classes. <i>Candida auris</i> is a serious global health threat with few effective therapies. In ...

Being in the first generation to access Higher Education (First Gen) is a barrier to academic success. First Gens face difficulties transitioning into, completing, and attaining competitive grades in ...

A new study published by UKHSA shows some bacteria have already become resistant to one of the newest antibiotics introduced to the NHS.

Some are viruses with global pandemic potential - like Covid - others infectious illnesses with no treatments.

Efflux, mediated by a series of multidrug efflux pumps, is a major contributor to antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. Efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), which can block efflux, have the potential to be used as adjuvant therapies to resensitize bacteria to existing antibiotics. In this study, 36 quinoline-based compounds were synthesized as potential EPIs targeting resistance nodulation division (RND) family pumps in the multidrug-resistant pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. In A. baumannii strains with overexpressed AdeFGH (chloramphenicol-adapted) and AdeABC (AYE, Ab5075-UW), these compounds enhanced Hoechst dye accumulation, indicating general efflux inhibition, and potentiated chloramphenicol, which is an AdeG substrate. The research focused on two generations of quinoline compounds, with modifications at the C-7 position of first-generation compounds to improve hydrophobic interactions with the Phe loop in the AdeG efflux pump, to generate second-generation compounds. The modified quinolines showed strong pump inhibition and significant chloramphenicol potentiation, with MIC reductions of 4- to 64-fold. Notably, compounds 1.8 and 3.8 exhibited the highest inhibitory activity, while compounds 1.3 and 3.3 showed up to 64-fold potentiation, highlighting the importance of specific structural features at the C-7 position for efflux pump inhibition. The study also revealed selective inhibition of AdeFGH over AdeABC, with no potentiation observed for gentamicin, showing the specificity of these quinoline-based inhibitors. Importantly, the compounds showed no toxicity in a Galleria mellonella model at a dose level of 20 mg/kg, highlighting their suitability as potential antibiotic adjuvants for combating bacterial resistance.

War appears to have accelerated the spread of pathogens resistant to antibiotics in the country.

17 PhD studentships for October 2025 start: Interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences to combat disease threats to human and animal health.

PACE brings the best minds in antimicrobial resistance research and connects them to funding, resources, and the right partnerships.

Candida auris is an emerging pathogenic fungus causing outbreaks of invasive disease in healthcare facilities worldwide with the majority of clinical isolates demonstrating intrinsic resistance to mul...