UF researchers awarded $11.8 million to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria

University of Florida Health scientists exploring how combinations of antibiotics can fight resistant bacteria have been awarded an $11.8 million grant for work that could help save the tens of thousands of lives lost yearly to infections that are increasingly plaguing humanity.

The National Institutes of Health, or NIH, grant to the UF College of Medicine and the UF College of Pharmacy will support scientists working to uncover the mechanics of how bacteria and antibiotics interact, down to the molecular level.

That mechanistic knowledge has become crucial as bacteria become ever-more resistant to antibiotics. Few pharmaceutical companies are developing new antibiotics, leaving scientists to find novel methods to make older drugs more effective when used in combination.