Chuan He, Associate Professor in Chemistry at the University of Chicago, has received a $500,000 grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to study Staphylococcus aureus. A once-tame bacterium, S. aureus has steadily become more resistant to antibiotics, leading to deadly outbreaks of pneumonia and other life-threatening afflictions.
"The extensive use of antibiotics to treat S. aureus has led to the emergence of high-level resistances in various strains, sending urgent warning signals for developing new strategies to combat this pathogen," He said.
He is one of 14 scientists from across North America to receive the grant, a 2008 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, based in Research Triangle Park , N.C., is an independent foundation that provides awards to support biomedical research poised for significant advance that is currently undervalued and underfunded.
S. aureus has become a major cause of death following hospital-acquired infections in patients with weakened immune systems. The microbe causes disease by producing various virulence factors, proteins that it wields like a weapon to invade human tissues.
"Suppression of virulence factors promises an effective strategy for preventing and treating S. aureus infection," He said. His research is aimed at identifying and understanding key proteins that S. aureus uses to sense and respond to the immune system’s defense.
"Such proteins often regulate virulence and defensive functions of bacteria, and are promising targets for developing small molecules as alternative treatments for life-threatening infections," He said.
—Prof. Chuan He
