Design, Synthesis and Optimization of New Chemical Entities as Antimicrobial Agents

Infectious disease persists as a major medical problem. Increasingly, bacterial infections are becoming resistant to conventional antibiotics. Currently, we are facing four "plagues": "re-emerging plague" (as Gram-positive bacteria become less susceptible to conventional antibotics); "new plague" (as Gram-negative bacteria become a more common cause of hospital acquired infections); "white plague" (as tuberculosis re-emerges world wide with resistance to drugs that once worked) and "forgotten plague" (as malaria continues to be a problem and has expanded relevance due to global warming). This research will use state of the art molecular modelling to design new drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections for one or more of these plagues. These putative new drugs will be synthesized, purified and tested in a variety of biological and animal models.