# The impact of bacteriophage therapy on wound infection dynamics

> **NIH NIH R01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $753,522

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Treatment of biofilm-associated infections using antibiotics can be limited by pathogen antibiotic resistance, as
well as antibiotic tolerance displayed by infections. This application seeks to develop new strategies to
eliminate persistent wound infections caused by multidrug resistant pathogens. Bacteriophages are natural,
abundant, and diverse with minimal toxicity, particularly when used topically, and assumed to have
negligible impact on the microbiome. Due to limited cross-resistance, bacteria displaying antibiotic resistance
tend to remain phage susceptible and phage cocktails (polyphages) can be developed to minimize resistance
to multiple phages, thereby better assuring continued susceptibility of targeted bacteria. Thus, an aggressive
mixture of bacteria- and biofilm-disrupting agents – phages and antibiotics – may
be employed towards reducing antibiotic-resisting and otherwise challenging-to-treat experimental wound
infections. Here we propose to develop bactericidal bacterial viruses (bacteriophages or phages)
as adjuvants to antibiotic application, with an aim towards future clinical testing while retaining current
standards of care. Emphasis is placed on the treatment of MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infected and mixed-
infected wounds. The five key phage characteristics that we developed for therapy are robust antibacterial
activity, ability to function against biofilms, host range breadth including multidrug resistant and colony variant
P. aeruginosa, limited cytotoxicity against host cells, and phage stability. Aim 1 will evaluate the phage cocktail
therapy in mono- and poly-microbial model systems. Aim 2 utilizes eco-systems biology approaches for in
vivo testing of cocktails in a complex polymicrobial infection and will investigate how phage therapy-based
targeting of a pathogen may cause changes to the wound microbiota. Overall, such therapy will be used to
reduce the burden of devastating infections caused by multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa. This study will also
lay the foundation for a program targeting each of the major ESKAPE pathogens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10756979
- **Project number:** 5R01AI169865-03
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel J Wozniak
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $753,522
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-02-02 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10756979

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10756979, The impact of bacteriophage therapy on wound infection dynamics (5R01AI169865-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10756979. Licensed CC0.

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