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Novel Strategies for Treating Biofilm-Forming Pathogens with Phage Therapy

Award Number: R21AI156798
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2023

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Novel Strategies for Treating Biofilm-Forming Pathogens with Phage Therapy - Project Summary The growing antibiotic resistance problem requires that we urgently develop and test new approaches to controlling bacterial infections. Phage therapy approaches offer great promise, but significant knowledge gaps currently exist that limit their application. Two issues that currently limit the broader use of phage therapy are the problem of curating specific lytic phage strains for each infection, and the difficulty of delivering phages directly to the infection sites where they are needed. We hypothesize that bacterial pathways that typically promote biofilm-associated growth can be decoupled from the stress- response pathways capable of inducing resident prophages. By separating these cellular responses, we propose to stabilize biofilms while also inducing temperate phages already present in the bacterial genome to enter lytic phase and kill the host cell. In so doing, we effectively bypass the limitations imposed by finding and delivering strain matched lytic phages to infections, while also developing approaches that make use of temperate phage therapy approaches. In Aim 1, we propose to determine biofilm dispersal rates and ascertain how biofilm-associated growth can be manipulated using cellular pathways. In Aim 2, we will analyze mechanisms by which lysogens can be induced into lytic phase to kill their hosts without spreading virulence factors beyond the biofilm. In Aim 3, we reinforce the approaches of the previous aims with an optimized lytic phage ambush of any escaping dispersers. The goals of this proposal are to develop an innovative, multi-pronged approach to phage therapy for biofilm-associated bacteria while also increasing overall knowledge of the limits and applicability of phage therapy.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = -$3,767 )
2024	2022	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	6530 KISSENA BLVD	FLUSHING	NY	11367	QUEENS	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	8/7/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$3,767
														Subtotal = -$3,767

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $192,500 )
2022	2022	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	65-30 KISSENA BLVD	FLUSHING	NY	11367	QUEENS	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	12/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$192,500
														Subtotal = $192,500

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $231,000 )
2021	2021	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	65-30 KISSENA BLVD	FLUSHING	NY	11367	QUEENS	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	12/21/2020	NEW	$231,000
														Subtotal = $231,000

Grand Total All Awards = $419,733

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Novel Strategies for Treating Biofilm-Forming Pathogens with Phage Therapy

Award Number: R21AI156798

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2023

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