NABARSI

Portrait of Dr John P. Hays, Coordinator of the European health research project NABARSI

Dr John P. Hays

Scientific Coordinator of NABARSI, based at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Research field

Microbiology

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Research Profile

Who?

Dr John P. Hays is concerned about the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. Dr Hays:“Along with many other microbiologists I feel passionate about educating people of this approaching disaster. Many people have heard about bird flu, but few about ESBLs - enzymes that confer resistance to many antibiotics.”

Why?

Resistance to antibiotics is increasing at an alarming rate. In some countries, bacteria are resistant to all currently available antibiotics. However, the development of new classes of antibiotics has almost stopped. Dr Hays: “The problem is very acute: in two decades, society may return to the pre-antibiotic era”.

What?

The principle goal of NABARSI is to develop new antibiotics with activity against resistant bacteria. This will be achieved through inhibition of enzymes called ‘aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases’. These enzymes are present in many types of bacteria. As a result, the new antibiotics will work against a broad range of bacteria.

How?

NABARSI is a consortium of drug discovery scientists and experts on bacterial resistance from the Netherlands, the UK, Latvia and Spain. Their collaboration will allow the discovery, evaluation and development of new antibiotics, providing clinicians with new ammunition in the war on infectious diseases.

Developing new ammunition in the war against infectious diseases

In the Picture
In the Picture
What is a microbe? TEMPOtest-QC (a related project) World Health Organization In Focus article 'Looking for new antibiotics' PDF versionPDF version
Image credits

Background image: NABARSI

Portrait of the project coordinator: NABARSI

Timeline (in chronological order): NABARSI