Next-Generation Antimicrobial Strategies: Using Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) to reduce antibiotic use.

About the Project

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest current global health challenges and there is an urgent need for new approaches to tackle the rise of resistant bacterial pathogens.

This PhD project will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore how metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with exceptional molecular storage properties, can act as delivery platforms to make existing antibiotics effective at much lower doses than those currently used in the clinic. Lowering antibiotic dosage will help reducing side effects, slow the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and could allow us to repurpose currently ineffective drugs.

Through this project you will develop interdisciplinary skills spanning MOF synthesis and characterisation; microbial culture (including biofilms) and antimicrobial assays of multidrug-resistant pathogens; and bioinformatic gene expression (transcriptomic) analyses. Alongside your research, you will also gain transferable skills in scientific communication to a wide range of audiences, collaborative work across disciplines, and project planning and design.

We welcome applicants with backgrounds in microbiology and an interest in chemistry. Motivation to work across the microbiology–chemistry interface is essential. Join us in developing innovative strategies to combat one of the greatest challenges in modern medicine.