Novel Antimicrobial Strategies through Host-Directed Therapeutics, Mitochondrial Quality Control and Advanced Infection Models

PrustyLab at RSU, Riga seeks to join a Horizon Europe consortium developing innovative antimicrobial therapeutics against drug-resistant pathogens. Our group contributes expertise in host–pathogen interactions, antimicrobial mechanisms, mitochondrial quality control, innate immunity and advanced preclinical disease models.

Our research has demonstrated that modulation of mitochondrial quality control and mitophagy can enhance macrophage-mediated antibacterial defence. We have investigated an experimental antimicrobial compound, K21, using cellular infection systems and C. elegans models, establishing a scientific foundation for exploring host-directed antimicrobial strategies.

We offer functional antimicrobial screening, macrophage infection models, mechanistic analysis of host-directed therapeutics, single-cell transcriptomics, and systems biology models.

We seek established or emerging consortia involving:

• Pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology SMEs with innovative antimicrobial candidates.

• Clinical microbiology centres and hospitals with expertise in antimicrobial-resistant infections and clinical trials.

• Partners developing therapeutics against WHO-priority resistant bacterial or fungal pathogens.

• Specialists in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, toxicology, GMP manufacturing and regulatory development.

Proposed consortium role

We aim to lead or co-lead preclinical mechanistic and functional validation work packages, integrating advanced cellular and animal models with systems-level analyses of antimicrobial efficacy and host responses.

We are particularly interested in partnerships that combine clinically advanced antimicrobial candidates with innovative mechanistic and preclinical validation technologies.