Teshome Belachew Eshete

Research Title: Characterizing the structure-biological activity relationship of dual-acting antimicrobials as an approach for combating drug resistance by S. aureus and P. aeruginosa.

Supervisor: Professor Mark Willcox and Professor Naresh Kumar

Co-supervisor: Dr. Rajesh Kuppusamy

Abstract

The emergence and reemergence of drug-resistant bacteria are a huge threat to the globe, particularly to developing countries. This problem becomes worse since multidrug resistance by both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens is growing. Pathogens can have intrinsic mechanisms of resistance to varied classes of antimicrobial agents, or acquire genes that increase their resistance profiles, or form biofilm (sessile conglomerates of microbes attached to surfaces) that heightened resistance. Resistant microbes such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa can cause both hospital-acquired and community acquired infections.

The development of antimicrobial resistance has resulted in the loss of clinical significance of some drugs and inspired research into new ways to design antimicrobial agents that are active against resistant bacteria. In this regard, the combined (semi-synthetic) approach, which is a modification of natural antibiotics by chemical or genetic engineering methods, is considered to be the most promising. Professor Willcox and his colleagues have designed several different dual-acting novel antimicrobial agents and demonstrated that they are active against certain bacteria (Samuel K. Kutty et al., 2015, Shekh Sabir et al., 2021). However, the spectrum of activity of these new compounds has not been systematically evaluated, nor has their mode of action (for example which aspect of the dual system works first).

Biography

I am a medical microbiologist and a current PhD student at UNSW. Over the last six years, I have been lecturing different courses like Bacteriology, Virology, Public Health Microbiology and Mycology courses to undergraduate, postgraduate, and medical students in Ethiopia. Besides, I have been engaged in research works focusing on phenotypic characterization of bacterial antimicrobial resistance and published more than 14 articles on PubMed and Scopus indexed journals. I have also participated in providing community services to help elderly people by cooperating with colleagues. Our current research project focusses on characterizing the structural-biological relationship of dual acting antimicrobials to combat drug resistance by S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. 

Education

Current PhD Student in the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences (UNSW) since 11 Sep 2023

MSc in Medical Microbiology (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia 2017)

BSc in Medical Laboratory Sciences (University of Gondar, Ethiopia, 2013)

Affiliation and Memberships

Member of Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM)

Lifetime Member of Red-cross Society, Ethiopia

Member of Ethiopian Medical Laboratory Association (EMLA)

Member of Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA)