A $350,000 Cure4 Cystic Fibrosis grant is set to propel the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre’s Phage WA program forward, supercharging its fight against antimicrobial resistant (AMR) lung infections in people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) using cutting-edge phage therapy.
People living with CF frequently experience recurrent pulmonary exacerbations triggered by bacterial or viral infections, making them particularly vulnerable to the impact of AMR.
To date, the Phage WA team has built a sizable biobank of more than 3,500 phages to treat multiple bacterial infections. The team has also tested their phages in pre-clinical models and has provided phage therapy for people on compassionate grounds.
Now, with the backing of this grant, Team Leader Associate Professor Anthony Kicic and the Phage WA team comprising Dr Yuliya Karpievitch, Dr Joshua Iszatt, Dr Daniel Laucirica, Dr Kak-Ming Ling, Dr Chris Malajczuk, Dr Samuel Montgomery, Dr Andrew Vaitekenas and Dr Renee Ng, will home-in on treating AMR lung infections in people with CF with phage therapy by:
Screening adults and children with CF who have bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics and characterising their isolates.
Testing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) phage-matching tool against regular phage-matching processes to determine the tool’s accuracy and efficiency.
The WA Phage team’s work is especially important for people with CF, as they are particularly susceptible to ‘superbugs’ – microorganisms that have developed resistance to most antibiotics.
One of the team’s most exciting ventures is the development of its AI phage-matching platform, PHAEDRA (Phage bacteriA genomE Diagnostics Recognition via Artificial Intelligence), which utilises in-silico generative AI modelling to predict phage activity against a person’s AMR bacterial infection.
At present, identifying a phage match requires researchers to know a lot of information about the specific bacteria that is causing problems for the patient. This is done by isolating the genes from the bacteria and characterising them carefully. This genetic code is then used to match up with a phage from a library and if one does not exist, new phages may need to be sourced.
PHAEDRA could save up to five days of waiting for laboratory results – time that can prove crucial for patients waiting for lifesaving treatments.
Dr Yuliya Karpievitch said the Cure4CF grant was a tremendous boost for her team. She hoped it would help them to accelerate the development of PHAEDRA and improve treatment options for people with CF.
“By refining PHAEDRA, we aim to provide faster, more precise treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections, ultimately giving patients access to life-changing therapies when they need them most.