Ben Scott

Ben is working on targeting bacterial virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a potentially lethal pathogen affecting immunocompromised patients, most commonly those that suffer from cystic fibrosis. With a limited number of antibiotics currently in clinical trials coupled with the general stagnation in the discovery of promising antimicrobials, new drug targets are desperately needed.

Recent investigations have suggested that targeting bacterial virulence as a means of treating and slowing down multi-drug resistant bacterial infections as a promising avenue of research. Targeting bacterial virulence should reduce the pathogenesis of an organism, slow its infection progression, and prevent vital virulence processes such as biofilm formation, as well as potentially increasing a strains’ sensitivity to antibiotics.

In Barrie Wilkinson’s group, Ben has uncovered three potential genes termed ‘Mips’ that he has shown are required for the full virulence processes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, he has demonstrated these can be pharmacologically treated, reducing infectiousness by nearly 60%.