Dr Krzysztof Brzeziński from the Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok (UwB) has won the SONATA BIS call organized by the National Science Center. He will receive over PLN 3 million for research on drug resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa – the number two bacterium on the current list of global microbiological threats published by the World Health Organization.

In the case of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the number of mechanisms conditioning its virulence and resistance is amazing – says Dr Krzysztof Brzeziński. The bacterium provides a number of protective barriers. Even if the substance harmful to the bacteria overcomes these barriers, systems of so-called pumps are activated, removing e.g. antibiotic molecules outside the cell.

Research will be interdisciplinary. During the project, Dr Krzysztof Brzeziński will apply a number of methods from the microbiology, cell biology, biophysics, NMR spectroscopy, molecular biology, biochemistry, crystallography and structural chemistry.