MSCA Doctoral Network: Improving Treatment of Intracellular Bacterial Infections

The University of León, Spain, is coordinating the preparation of an MSCA Doctoral Network proposal investigating why bacteria survive antimicrobial treatment inside host cells and how these barriers can be overcome.

Focusing on Staphylococcus aureus, the project combines microbiology, chemistry, pharmacology and cell biology to investigate four determinants of treatment response: intracellular drug exposure, bacterial location, local antimicrobial activity and the biological state of the host and pathogen. The programme will study conventional antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides and targeted combinations.

The proposed network brings together nine doctoral projects supported by collaborative research, international mobility and training across academic and non-academic environments.

We seek complementary industry and clinical partners interested in contributing expertise, training or doctoral secondment opportunities, particularly in:

• Antimicrobial and peptide development.

• Intracellular pharmacology, drug delivery and bioanalysis.

• Infection models and preclinical evaluation.

• Clinical microbiology and translational research.

• Biotechnology development, intellectual property and exploitation.

Potential contributions include hosting short doctoral secondments, providing specialist training, advising on development priorities and assessing the practical relevance of research outcomes.

We welcome discussions with companies, hospitals and research organisations to define focused contributions that match their expertise and interests.