Ohio State researchers have received a 5-year, $2.1 million award from the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health to study resistant wound infections.
Faculty from Ohio State College of Medicine’s Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Wound Center and Comprehensive Burn Center will use molecular and genomic approaches to define how biofilm-growing bacteria resist treatment and host immune cells.
The focus of the study will be the interaction of the immune system and biofilms, from which a chronic wound model of infection that mimics human disease will be developed. Researchers will test their hypothesis that biofilm-related infections delay healing in human wound infections. The findings will be integral to the development of novel therapeutics to combat biofilm infections.
“This research endeavor helps us assemble the right team to tackle a substantial health problem. Infection is a significant challenge in wound care, particularly for those patients with major burn injuries. Biofilms, which are dense communities of bacteria commonly adherent to a surface or each other, are now recognized as a significant contributor to these infections,” says Chandan Sen, PhD, (pictured) a professor and vice chair for research in Ohio State’s Department of Surgery, in a news release.
[Source: Ohio State College of Medicine]
