Microbe Matters

As antimicrobial resistance continues to grow and evolve, researchers and clinicians are looking towards a different approach to treating drug-resistant infections. Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria but were widely dismissed in modern western medicine in favor of antibiotics- until now. 

In this episode, Tony interviews Daria Van Tyne, PhD and Ghady Haidar, MD, who are both faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh interested in discovering breakthroughs in phage therapy to combat antimicrobial resistant infections. We discuss the history of bacteriophages, where to find them, and the future of bacteriophage engineering.

There seems to be a lot of buzz surrounding the notion of the “super bug” in today’s news. But what exactly is a super bug? The term is used to describe microorganisms that have developed resistance to antibiotics. The CDC has described antimicrobial resistance as a top 10 threat to global health.

In this episode, Tony is joined by Dr. Alex Viehman, MD, and Ryan Shields, PharmD, MS, to kick off the podcast series with a general overview on the infamous super bugs. We discuss what these organisms are, where to find them, who is at risk, and what you can do to help prevent the spread of these elusive pathogens.