Research summary
Antimicrobial resistance has reached crisis proportions. But most of the research that aims to address it relies on testing microbes in isolation under standardized lab conditions—which does not adequately represent the true infection situation. It likely fails to capture the entire arsenal that superbugs may deploy during infection.
Dr. Omar El-Halfawy, Canada Research Chair in Chemogenomics and Antimicrobial Research, is trying to address these knowledge gaps by exploring how microbes behave and respond under conditions that more closely mimic infection. He and his research team hope to uncover clinically relevant novel targets for antimicrobial drugs. Their long-term goal is to discover antimicrobials that cripple the ability of microbes to cause infection or resist antibiotics, ultimately providing new potential treatments for infectious diseases.