{"657380":{"#nid":"657380","#data":{"type":"event","title":"BioE PhD Defense Presentation- Troy Batugal","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ERavi S. Kane, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAndr\u0026eacute;s Garc\u0026iacute;a, Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;(Georgia Institute of Technology)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBlair Brettmann, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECorey Wilson, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJulie Champion, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MODIFIED LYTIC ENZYMES AND NANOPARTICLE-BASED VACCINES TO COMBAT \u003Cem\u003ES. AUREUS\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is an imminent threat posed by the expanding list of \u0026ldquo;superbugs\u0026rdquo; or antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause life-threatening infections. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one such superbug that is easily spread in hospitals and within communities. Many therapeutics fail to adequately treat infections caused by MRSA, leaving clinicians and patients with few options such as last resort antibiotics. The rapid pace of evolution of antimicrobial resistance to new and last resort antibiotics necessitates research and development of viable alternative strategies for preventing and treating infections. Our approach for tackling this growing public health concern involves three aims: incorporation of reactive handles into lytic enzymes, modification of lytic enzymes to reduce their immunogenicity, and designing vaccines that elicit broadly protective antibodies against \u003Cem\u003ES. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst, lytic enzymes such as lysostaphin are modular antimicrobials that could have activity against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Engineering these enzymes with reactive moieties can greatly broaden their potential applications to include incorporation in wound-healing biomaterials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESecond, the efficacy of lytic enzymes \u003Cem\u003Ein vivo\u003C\/em\u003E is stymied by their low half-life and the potential to elicit an immune response. We offer two different approaches for reducing the immunogenicity of lytic enzymes: using site-specific pegylation or using site-specific glycosylation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThird, \u003Cem\u003ES. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E has an arsenal of toxins and mechanisms that facilitate evasion of the host immune system. A vaccine that can elicit broad protection against multiple\u003Cem\u003E S. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E toxins is needed to reduce infections and disease severity. We aim to design and characterize a protein-based vaccine against \u003Cem\u003ES. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E that can elicit antibodies that can neutralize multiple members of a family of \u003Cem\u003ES. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E toxins.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBioE PhD Defense Presentation-\u0026nbsp; \u0026quot;DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MODIFIED LYTIC ENZYMES AND NANOPARTICLE-BASED VACCINES TO COMBAT S. AUREUS \u0026quot; - Troy Batugal\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MODIFIED LYTIC ENZYMES AND NANOPARTICLE-BASED VACCINES TO COMBAT S. AUREUS \u0022"}],"uid":"27917","created_gmt":"2022-04-18 14:21:39","changed_gmt":"2022-04-18 14:21:39","author":"Laura Paige","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2022-04-26T11:30:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2022-04-26T13:30:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2022-04-26T13:30:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2022-04-26 15:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2022-04-26 17:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2022-04-26 17:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"65448","name":"Bioengineering Graduate Program"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"172056","name":"go-BioE"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"10377","name":"Career\/Professional development"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}