Federal Grant Award Summary

Emory University received a $161,244 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective April 16, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2028. The research project focuses on understanding multidrug-resistant pathogen infections and evaluating treatment approaches using both antibiotics and bacteriophages. The research will employ experimental evolution assays to elucidate evolutionary trajectories toward antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, utilizing Galleria mellonella larvae as an in vivo model system to investigate how immune responses alter resistance development patterns.

The project will characterize the genetic basis of antibiotic resistance through adaptive laboratory evolution experiments conducted with clinically used antibiotics. Researchers will identify the genetic variants responsible for resistance, determine the order of appearance of these mutations, and evaluate their individual contributions to observed resistance phenotypes. Additionally, the study will assess fitness costs associated with resistance mutations and examine cross-resistance and collateral susceptibility patterns. These research products are intended to establish foundational knowledge for developing new treatment protocols to combat life-threatening bacterial infections caused by the ESKAPE group pathogens, which account for significant morbidity and mortality in healthcare settings.