# Microbiome Discovery and Mechanisms to Combat Antibiotic Resistance at Mucosal Surfaces

> **NIH NIH U19** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $2,390,117

## Abstract

Overall Project Summary
The ability to control bacterial infections with antibiotics has been one of the most important public health
advancements in human history. Before the discovery of antibiotics and vaccines, infectious disease was the
leading cause of death and constituted nearly 50% of deaths in the US alone. Now, infectious diseases as a
cause of death barely makes the top ten and we now treat most bacterial infections as a nuisance rather than
life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately, this is rapidly changing with the emergence of antibiotic resistant
bacterial pathogens. Ultimately, our ability to develop new antibiotics faster than resistance amongst
pathogens emerges has failed and many scientists expect we will experience a return to a pre-antibiotic era in
which we cannot treat what are now easy to cure bacterial infections. Therefore, novel, non-antibiotic
approaches to controlling bacterial infections are required and need to be explored. The main theme of the
BCM-CARBIRU is to use microbiome-based approaches to control bacterial infections at mucosal surfaces.
We will investigate ecological principles of microbial community inhibition of pathogen colonization as well as
the use of bacteriophage for precision elimination of bacterial pathogens. Both approaches have advantages
over the use of antibiotics in that they leave the native microbiome largely intact, avoiding the elimination of
beneficial microbes along with the pathogens targeted by antimicrobials. We propose three projects,
supported by two scientific cores and the administrative core, to explore and optimize microbiome-based
strategies for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. Project 1. Discovery and mechanistic
understanding of phage activity and synergism at host mucosal surfaces. Project 2. Defined microbial
communities to prevent and eradicate infection by antibiotic resistant pathogens. Project 3. Nasal microbial
consortia combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We expect two main outcomes from the execution of these
projects. First, we expect to define and understand the ecological principles that are key for microbial
communities and bacteriophage to function to control pathogens at mucosal surfaces. Second, we expect to
have identified actionable phage and microbial communities that will be available for testing in human clinical
trials at the end of the project periods. Together, these projects will capitalize on protective measures at the
mucosal surface, which have existed for millennia prior to modern medicine, as we enter the next era of
microbiome-based therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10168129
- **Project number:** 1U19AI157981-01
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBERT A BRITTON
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,390,117
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-01 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10168129

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10168129, Microbiome Discovery and Mechanisms to Combat Antibiotic Resistance at Mucosal Surfaces (1U19AI157981-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10168129. Licensed CC0.

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