The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that Allison Lopatkin, assistant professor of biological sciences, has received a grant for a collaborative project with Nova Southeastern University. The project, titled “Does growth efficiency determine the inoculum effect?” examines how growth efficiency determines the inoculum effect (IE) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to achieve the long term goal of determining growth conditions that reduce or eliminate IE.
The researchers aim to understand how growth efficiency influences antibiotic resistance within highly dense populations of bacteria. The results have important implications for public health since new findings could aid in the development of novel ways to treat bacterial infections. Following this study, the researchers will investigate the genes and biochemical pathways that determine growth efficiency and IE to develop a molecular mechanism. The researchers anticipate that their work will lead to the development of new antibiotics that reduce or eliminate IE.