USA College Of Medicine Researcher Awarded NIH Grant

MOBILE, Ala. — Dr. Christopher Davies, associate dean for research at the University of South Alabama’s (USA) Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, recently was awarded a five-year, $3.5-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determine the molecular mechanisms that confer antibiotic resistance to Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterial species that causes gonorrhea. In recent decades, resistance of the species toward multiple classes of antibiotics has increased steadily, leaving only extended-spectrum cephalosporins as recommended treatments. For the project, Davies’ team will work to determine the molecular structures of PBP2 from cephalosporin-resistant strains of the species and examine their properties biochemically. The overall goal of the research is to develop new agents to treat gonorrhea, which is already happening through an NIH-supported collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Venatorx Inc., which is translating findings from the Davies lab to design new inhibitors of PBP2.