Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Umeå University will receive a grant of 11 million USD from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The aim of the research project is to find new ways of treating bacteria infections without antibiotics and to study a potential new class of antibiotics.

The research consortium is lead by Professor Scott J. Hultgren at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis i USA. It is divided into different research themes. Professor Fredrik Almqvist at Umeå University is co-heading the chemistry platform of the project.

“My research group will assist with design and synthesis of new antibacterial substances for several of the different projects. Besides improving the molecules characteristics with the purpose of finding starting points for new drugs we will also provide molecules especially developed to unravel the exact mechanism of action, which in turn gives a deeper understanding and possibilities to new future approaches,” says Almqvist.

Photo of Fredrik Almqvist: Mattias Pettersson