Saint Louis University (SLU) students presented their research at the Biology Symposium on September 6th. The symposium was a competitive event with wins in several categories.
This year’s undergraduate winners were Julia Gogel and Imandi Mendis. They represent the SLU Institute for Drug and Biotherapeutic Intervention, an organization that connects SLU students to public health-related research opportunities at SLU’s North and South Campuses.
To combat the growing dangers posed by antibiotic resistance, Gogel and Mendis are working to discover new antibiotics.
“…These pathogens will continue to develop resistance to the antibiotics we have available over time, so there will always be a need to manufacture more antibiotics to fight these pathogens,” Gogel said.
Gogel and Mendis’ research focuses on bacteria that make humans sick, including Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species, also known as escape pathogens.
“We’re particularly focused on escape pathogens because they’re the main cause of nosocomial infections, which are hospital-acquired infections,” Mendis said.
This research is looking for soil microorganisms that produce antibiotics. They are testing this by competing microorganisms isolated from soil with the ESKAPE pathogen.
“They’re fighting each other, and in order to fight each other, they should exhibit some kind of antibiotic activity, and that’s what we’re trying to isolate,” Mendis said.
Gogel and Mendis were able to participate in the study through the Pharmacobiological Intervention Institute program. Dr. Bryce Janowiak, co-director of the program, is a passionate supporter of students participating in research projects.
“I encourage students to think about what they are most interested in doing and talk to their professors if they are interested in research,” Janowiak says.
Dr. Janowiak said that if students interested in biology or neuroscience research are interested in starting a research project, they can browse research ideas on SLU’s website, Pharmacobiologic Intervention Laboratory. is recommended.
