News
$21M in funding to tackle antimicrobial drug resistance
Published on May 6, 2024
The Canadian Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and the Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) are investing $21 million in a research project aimed at accelerating the discovery of new antibiotics to counter drug-resistant bacteria. Led by Yves Brun, professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology and researcher at the UdeM Faculty of Medicine’s Centre for Biomedical Innovation, the project will involve various IRIC teams.
Anne Marinier and her group at IRIC’s Drug Discovery Unit will be responsible for the synthesis, screening and optimization of antimicrobial molecules. Pierre Thibault, head of IRIC’s Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Unit, will oversee proteomic analyses of the identified antibiotics’ mechanisms of action. Finally, IRICoR, IRIC’s research maturation cluster headed by Elizabeth Douville, will contribute to the project’s intellectual property strategy and commercial development.
“IRIC’s Drug Discovery Unit and Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Unit, along with IRICoR, are delighted to be part of the team led by Yves Brun and to have taken part in the genesis of this highly innovative project,” explains Anne Marinier. “By harnessing the very latest technologies in drug discovery, such as the Brun laboratory’s high-content imaging, IRIC’s unique DEL chemolibraries (collections of DNA-encoded molecules), organoid screening and artificial intelligence support at all stages of research, the team is confident of accelerating the development of novel bacterial agents. As a result, we will be better prepared to respond rapidly to a bacterial pandemic.
For full funding details, see the official announcement (in French).
