Confronting the challenge of antimicrobial ...(thogens such as MRSA Efforts to bet...),Health

• Efforts to better understand and ultimately prevent biofilms--slimy coatings made by communities of bacteria that are impervious to the effects of antibiotics

• Creation of computer-based virtual microbial metabolic pathways that allow quick identification of potential drug targets

Facilitating the translation of basic research findings into better diagnostics, new therapies and novel strategies to slow the emergence of antimicrobial resistance is also an area of emphasis for the Institute, write the authors. The following are examples of the many applied and translational research programs supported by NIAID:

• Numerous clinical trials, including is assessing the need for antibiotics in children with acute middle-ear infections; and two trials designed to test off-patent oral antibiotics for treating uncomplicated community-associated MRSA

• Preclinical development of vaccine candidates to prevent staphylococcal infections

• Efforts to improve diagnostics, particularly for healthcare-associated bacterial infections that are already or are likely to become drug-resistant, such as Clostridium difficile, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter

• DNA sequencing and other genomics resources that aid in discovery of diagnostics and therapeutics

Finally, the authors outline several new and established NIAID partnerships addressing antimicrobial resistance, including

• The Federal Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, co-chaired by NIAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration, which implements an annually updated action plan

• The international Lilly Not-For-Profit Partnership for TB Early Phase Drug Discovery, which integrates the expertise of the pharmaceutical industry with university-based researchers to develop new drugs against TB, including multidrug-resi
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