Emerging and opportunistic microbial pathogens

Over the last few decades, medical communities have faced emerging and re-emerging microbial agents, which are now considered a major global microbiologic public health threat.

The use and misuse of antimicrobial agents have led to high levels of antimicrobial resistance in opportunistic microbial pathogens, constituting one of the most significant challenges for human health in modern medicine. Rapid evolution and the ability to share genetic material have led to the acquisition and spread of genes that encode resistance to antimicrobials in microbial pathogens, limiting the therapeutic options for treating infections caused by resistant pathogens. Therefore, currently, opportunistic pathogens stand as an increasing matter of concern at hospitals around the globe as we are running out of antimicrobial agents to treat infections due to the emergence of highly resistant pathogens.

 To stop the spread and tackle antimicrobial resistance, we study the evolution of antimicrobial resistance by focusing on understanding how mobile genetic elements, small pieces of DNA that move and spread clinically significant resistance genes in the microbial population, contribute to the rapid evolution of microbial pathogens.

We also use comparative genomics and experimental microbiological approaches to understand various aspects of antimicrobial resistance in emerging and opportunistic pathogens resistant to a wide range of antimicrobial agents. Specifically, we track the spread of mobile genetic elements in local and global phylogenies to find genetic epidemiological markers that help diagnose and track antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

 So far, our work has established details of complex evolutionary events that have led to the emergence of antibiotic resistance in the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii, the WHO’s number 1 priority pathogen for antibiotic resistance research and antibiotic development.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.