# A High-Throughput Molecular Platform for Antimicrobial Discovery and Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2020 · $404,429

## Abstract

Project Summary.
While rates of antibiotic resistance bacterial infections continue to rise, our development of new antimicrobial
agents has stagnated. The high failure rate of new candidate compounds demands the development of
alternative pipelines for the discovery of new antimicrobial agents to prevent our slide back to the pre-antibiotic
medical era. Our objective in this proposal is to develop and implement a new molecular approach to drug
screening for an in-depth study of peptide chemistry with antimicrobial activity against antibiotic-resistant,
Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Our platform creates microenvironments for individual bacteria and
peptide sequences to interact under physiologically relevant conditions, within a mixed bacterial population.
Lytic events are measured using next-generation sequencing, allowing rapid and batch screening of millions of
peptides in one tube. This proposal offers a quantum leap forward in antimicrobial peptide research.
Completion of the planned work is expected to have a positive translational impact by greatly expanding our
understanding of peptide chemistry with antimicrobial activity and identify new bacterial targets for therapeutic
targeting, both of which will likely support the development of new antimicrobials and approaches to fight
antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9923526
- **Project number:** 5R01AI125337-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Bryan William Davies
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $404,429
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-05-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9923526

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9923526, A High-Throughput Molecular Platform for Antimicrobial Discovery and Study (5R01AI125337-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9923526. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*