If you develop a urinary tract infection or a bloodstream infection, it is most often the bacterium E. coli that is the culprit. It is therefore a frequent reason for prescribing antibiotics. Worryingly, several variants of the bacterium are not susceptible to one or more classes of antibiotics.
Professor Jukka Corander at the Department of Biostatistics at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of Oslo (UiO) has a long history on conducting research on antibiotic resistance. He has now received the exciting news that the European Research Council (ERC) has awarded him an ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros, equivalent to NOK 28 million.
“I was surprised and very pleased. This funding means a great deal; it makes it possible for my group to continue groundbreaking research in bacterial genomics and infections. It may also pave the way for younger researchers in my group to secure their own ERC projects in the future,” says the professor.
Corander makes history with three major individual ERC grants
Pro-Dean for research and innovation at the Faculty of Medicine, Jan Bjaalie, offers his warm congratulations.
“We are witnessing a piece of history being written. Corander has now, for the third time, secured a major individual ERC grant – something no researcher at the Faculty of Medicine has previously achieved. This is an absolutely extraordinary accomplishment; only one other UiO researcher has succeeded in doing the same. We extend our warmest congratulations to him, and to the research community at the Department of Biostatistics,” says Bjaalie.
Head of Institute Philippe Collas at IMB also offers his congratulations and points out that antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to public health in the years to come.
“We are proud of this award to professor Jukka Corander and his research group, whom are making a major contribution to addressing this problem,” says Collas.
Will study specific elements of the bacteria’s genetic material
Corander explains that new variants of E. coli are emerging frequently and then begin to spread rapidly among humans.
“We do not know very much about why we see these patterns, how they arise and how they persist.”
The professor and his research group will investigate specific groups of genes in E. coli, not only those encoding resistance to antibiotics.
“We want to find out whether these genes augment the fundamental traits governed by the bacterium’s core genetic material – that is, the genes that all E. coli share. Do certain genetic variants survive and dominate because they have a particular combination of core genome and these specific genes?” says Corander.
In the new project, ACES, the researchers will use both the latest DNA sequencing technology and advanced data analysis and simulation models. They work together with researchers from Oslo University Hospital in a joint center, the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (OCBE).
Important to find solutions to antibiotic resistance
They will also work on developing methods to predict what happens in bacterial populations when we introduce new antibiotics, probiotics or vaccines. The idea is that this will help to create smarter strategies to combat antibiotic resistance in E. coli and, in future, also in other bacteria.
The professor emphasises how important it is to find solutions to the major health challenge posed by antibiotic resistance, and thatmore research on the fundamental processes governing success of certain bacterial strains is urgently needed.
“In our previous studies we have seen an alarming number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. If we do not manage to do something about this, we risk being left without any treatment for serious infections in the future. But it is equally important to understand why certain successful E. coli variants have not become more antibiotic-resistant over time. This is exactly what ACES aims to answer.”