ADRF Grant Recipient | Dr Wenyi Li

In January 2021, a Melbourne Dental School research team consisting of Ms Tamara Matthyssen, Dr Wenyi Li, Prof Neil Martin O’Brien-Simpson and Dr James Holden was awarded an ADRF grant in the postgraduate category for their research project titled “Developing antibiotic agents to combat oral infectious disease".

By 2050 it is predicted that more people will die from bacterial infections than cancer. This prediction is based on the continued rise in antibiotic and multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in medical and dental health areas that are not being controlled by traditional antibiotics. The oral cavity is a known reservoir for transferable antibiotic resistance, a phenomenon increased in patients with the bacterial disease chronic periodontitis. The team will use an iterative chemical biology approach to develop novel antimicrobial peptides with reduced cytotoxicity to target periodontal pathogens in oral health.

Wenyi Li