Nader Abdelmalek
Email: abdelmaleknader@hotmail.fr
Affiliation:
University of Sassari, Italy
Project description : “Re-sensitizing Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to antimicrobials”
Antibiotic resistance is a major global public health problem and one of the best models of resistance development is the emergence of methicillin-resistance staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The full expression of the resistance phenotype requires metabolic enzymes involved in cell wall biogenesis and regulation, which, together with resistance genes, are essential for the high level of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, combating the resistance mechanisms of MRSA, by targeting these metabolic enzymes could be an alternative approach to restore conventional antibiotics susceptibility through a combination therapy strategy.
In this context, the focus of this project is to apply transposon-directed insertion site sequencing technology (TraDis) to MRSA Strain in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen, to identify eventually metabolic vulnerabilities that we could exploit by screening them using a library of bioactive compounds available at ABAC, in Spain.
Personal description :
Throughout my BSc studies in medical biology, I was fascinated by all aspects of medical biology but a bit more by hematology, which is why I chose to do my bachelor project evaluating the efficacy of different combinations of therapies for different types of acute leukemia. My intention was obviously to specialize in hematology, but a pivotal event, organized by an association called alliance against antibiotic resistance, led me to a volte-face, as I knew that Tunisia had and still has the second-highest rate of antibiotic consumption and has a high but not well-documented rate of antibiotic resistance. Two years passed before I started my master's thesis at the University of Monastir, with the aim of monitoring carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, in the Sahel region of Tunisia, where I became familiar with a wide range of different laboratory techniques and acquired a solid knowledge in the field of microbiology.