Graduate Researcher
Thesis advisor: Prof. Lynette Cegelski• Designed and evaluated the first vancomycin conjugates exhibiting a dendrimeric array of guanidinium groups, leading to order-of-magnitude or greater improvements in efficacy compared to vancomycin against high-priority Gram-negative pathogens and S. aureus biofilms.• Developed vancomycin conjugates with new cationic surrogate groups, including a lead compound that demonstrates the best broad-spectrum activity to-date with excellent cell killing against planktonic and biofilm-associated ESKAPE pathogens. •Conducted extensive mode-of-action studies on novel vancomycin-conjugates, demonstrating cell-surface activity and enhanced vancomycin-like killing with no acute toxicity. •Improved and expanded the activity of current-generation antibiotics through cutting-edge mode-of-action and function-oriented design studies, providing a viable solution to the urgent threat of antimicrobial resistance. •Collaborated within a multi-disciplinary team to demonstrate the promise of generalizable semi-synthetic methods as a tool to increase the potency of existing antibiotics and expand their spectrum of activity, providing a fast path to clinical candidates for addressing rising antimicrobial resistance.
