WEHI New Medicines & Diagnostic Special Seminar hosted by Dr William Nguyen

Lily Kenchington-Evans

PhD Candidate – Blaskovich Laboratory, Institute for Molecular Bioscience – The University of Queensland

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel dual-acting antimicrobials

Davis Auditorium

Join via TEAMS

Including Q&A session

Please note this presentation will not be recorded

Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat and is exacerbated by the propensity for pathogenic bacteria to form biofilms, which protect otherwise susceptible cells from antibiotic treatment. With few new traditional antibiotics in the development pipeline, there is an urgent need for strategies that inhibit planktonic growth and prevent biofilm formation. One promising approach to the above is the development of dual-acting antimicrobials, or ‘conjugates’, that maintain anti-planktonic activity while inhibiting biofilm formation. Here, we report on ammonium- and phosphonium-based conjugates spanning six antibiotic classes, and their biological profile against Gram-positive and -negative pathogens, including multidrug-resistant strains. One notable conjugate, ROX-PCM5, demonstrated enhanced anti-planktonic activity, breaking resistance in MDR isolates, and prevented biofilm formation. Furthermore, no cytotoxicity was detected against human embryonic kidney cells at the highest concentration tested (> 128 µg/mL). Together, this work demonstrates the potential of conjugation strategies to broaden the functional scope of existing antibiotics and provides a framework for the development of next-generation antimicrobial agents.

Lily completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Microbiology, followed by Honours in Chemistry with Peter Barnard at La Trobe University, focusing on the design and synthesis of siderophore-antibacterial conjugates. Lily is a final-year PhD candidate in the Blaskovich Lab at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, where her research centres on the design and synthesis of novel antibacterial agents aimed at alleviating the health burden of biofilms. Lily is passionate about drug development for all infectious diseases, accessible education, and science communication.

All welcome!