Faculty of Pharmacy in new initiative against lower respiratory tract infections
“In six years, I hope that we have brought a number of variations of antibacterial nano particles close to clinical studies,” says Lena Friberg, professor at one of four research environments that within a new interdisciplinary initiative will develop treatments for lower respiratory tract infections caused by resistant bacteria.
(Image removed) Lena Friberg, Professor of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
In a study published in The Lancet, an estimated 1.3 million people died in 2019 as a result of infections caused by resistant bacteria. This makes antibiotic resistance one of the most common causes of death in the world and the prognosis remains bleak. In the work to reverse the development, the Swedish Research Council allocates SEK 30 million to a new interdisciplinary research environment in order to create more effective treatments for bacterial infections in the lower respiratory tract.
“The new environment unites four research groups at Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet and Umeå University. With combined expertise, we hope to develop precision therapies with nanoparticles transporting antibacterial substances to the lungs, and it is extremely inspiring for us to, in collaboration with such skilled teams, take on this great challenge that we face,” says Lena Friberg, Professor of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics at Uppsala University .
In the project, which has initial funding for six years, Lena Friberg's team will develop mathematical models and use them to measure the speed and degree of uptake of antibacterial substances in the lung and analyse how the composition of the particles will affect bactericidal effects. This work is expected to bring new knowledge about the basic physicochemical and biological processes that control the activities of new types of nano transmitters for use against lower respiratory tract infections.
“Our task includes assembling the results, use them to integrate the steps from laboratory studies to human and report composition and study design to the other teams. In six years, I hope that we have brought a number of variations of antibacterial nano particles close to clinical studies, but also that our group have developed models with relevance for other studies of nanoparticles capacities as carriers of various substances,” says Lena Friberg.
FACTS
- The project Nanoengineered precision therapies for lower respiratory tract infections receives SEK 30 million from the Swedish Research Council for the period 2022–2027.
- The interdisciplinary environment includes Lena Friberg's research group at Uppsala University, Georgios Sotirious and Birgitta Henriques-Normark's research groups at Karolinska Institutet and Fredrik Almqvist's research group at Umeå University.
- The project aim is to use nanoparticles in order to develop precision therapies against bacterial infections in the lower respiratory tract.
MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT
(Image removed) Lena Friberg, Professor
Department of Pharmacy
lena.friberg@farmaci.uu.se
text: Magnus Alsne, photo:Mikael Wallerstedt