Daria Van Tyne, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
About my role in the ARLG
I received an early-stage investigator award from ARLG to isolate and characterize bacteriophages that can target antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria, like P. aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., E. coli, and K. pneumoniae. I have a PhD, which makes my role a bit different from other ARLG researchers. Even though I am not a medical doctor, I work closely with physicians on research that directly informs treatment courses for patients.
About my research
The looming threat of antibiotic resistance has driven a renewed interest in the potential utility of bacteriophages (also called phages) to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. Because phages can be very specific for the bacteria they will target, we need to find and study many different phages to find the ones that will be most useful for treating antibiotic-resistant infections in patients.
Why is this research important?
Phages are new weapons in the fight against antibiotic resistance and could be a powerful addition to the treatment arsenal available to clinicians who have patients with drug-resistant infections. In contrast to many broad-spectrum antibiotics, phages target individual species and strains of bacteria. They act like a sniper, removing a particular bacterial species from a population. Traditional antibiotics often act similar to a nuclear bomb, eliminating both good and bad bacteria indiscriminately.
Impact of the ARLG mentoring and funding on my career
ARLG support has allowed my lab to build libraries of phages that are available for screening against clinical bacterial isolates from infected patients. We now receive periodic phage screening requests from our physician colleagues, and are working to develop tailored phage cocktails for patients we think might benefit from phage therapy. I have also become involved in the ARLG-sponsored PHAGE trial, which has given me valuable exposure to the process of planning and running a clinical trial.
Furthermore, my ARLG mentor has made me aware of and encouraged me to apply for other relevant funding opportunities, and has also helped me start new avenues of research in my lab. Phage research was a new area for my group when we first started this work, but ARLG has helped support us in the development of a clinically-relevant research program in phage therapy. Doing this kind of research is very rewarding, and I’m grateful for ARLG’s support for this work.