A team of Irish and UK researchers, led by a University College Cork (UCC) scientist at APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre, have been granted a prestigious Wellcome Trust Discovery Award of €5.3 million to investigate the leading global cause of fatal bloodstream infection, a major cause of illness and death worldwide.
The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is the leading global cause of these fatal bloodstream infections, with antimicrobial resistant (AMR) strains such as methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) compounding this major clinical problem.
Despite advances in modern medicine, the incidences of S. aureus bloodstream infection is increasing year-on-year and scientists and doctors have no definitive understanding of why this is. Furthermore, these bacteria are present in the microbiome of approximately one third of the human population, and it is well established that those colonised by S. aureus are at higher risk of infection.
Now, Prof Ruth Massey, based at the School of Microbiology in UCC and APC Microbiome Ireland, together with Prof. Rachel McLoughlin from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, Prof. Mario Recker at the University of Exeter and researchers at the University of Bristol will, through this Wellcome Trust funding, examine how this bacteria cause damage to human tissue and evade the immune system.
Utilising their combined cross-disciplinary expertise they will now build the first detailed description of the key bacteria-host interactions and processes that control the establishment and severity of S. aureus bloodstream infection, helping to advance critical understanding of how this notorious human pathogen causes disease.
 scientist at APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre, have been granted a prestigious Wellcome Trust Discovery Award of €5.3 million to investigate the leading global cause of fatal bloodstream infection, a major cause of illness and death worldwide.){kind=link}