Dr. Thomas Bartlett, a new Principal Investigator in the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Genetics, has been awarded a New York Community Trust award for his grant proposal entitled “Finding New Gaps in the Cell Wall of Drug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.”
Dr. Bartlett’s research addresses the accelerating public health crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which kill over a million people each year. S. aureus specifically poses one of the greatest threats of any drug-resistant pathogen, with Staph strains including the infamous methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) causing over 100,000 annual deaths. For this reason, identifying new antibiotic targets in S. aureus is essential. Because bacteria proliferate through cell division, the molecular machinery that governs this process represents a high-value target for novel drug discovery strategies. By clarifying how S. aureus spatially and temporally regulates its cell division, Dr. Bartlett seeks to identify new vulnerabilities that can be exploited for next-generation antimicrobial development. This research has the potential to identify targets that allow specific anti-Staphylococcal therapies targeting MRSA and other resistant Staph infections, but with minimal disruption to the many beneficial bacteria living beside them.
The NY Community Trust is generously supporting Dr. Bartlett’s exploratory work over the next two years, during which time he will continue to collect preliminary data for publication and apply for sustained federal grant support. Further, this award represents an investment in protecting the health of New Yorkers by supporting foundational scientific research conducted by research programs at the Wadsworth Center.