Nanoengineered precision therapies of lower respiratory tract infections

The overall aim is to develop nanoparticle-enabled precision therapies of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) caused by bacterial pathogens.

LRTI caused by gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains, kill several million individuals every year. Novel treatment approaches are urgently needed with efficient drug delivery to the lungs.

To address this urgent need, we combine 4 research groups with distinct expertise in (i) nanoparticle technology, (ii) clinical microbiology and infectious disease, (iii) organic chemistry and (iv) advanced data analysis.

Over the span of 6-years, we will systematically study the effect of particle properties on their capacity to efficiently deliver novel peptides and small organic molecules and study their time-dependent antibacterial activity in vitro and in vivo against gram-positive and gram-negative respiratory pathogens with risk for high antimicrobial resistances (S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, M. tuberculosis).

The obtained data will be continuously fed into pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) in silico models to understand and predict the rate and susceptibility of bacterial killing and guide delivery and dosing strategies.

The data obtained will provide knowledge on fundamental physicochemical and biological processes that govern the activity of precisely made drug nanocarriers upon their pulmonary delivery against LRTIs.