_{Photo ©M Oeggerli 2008. Supported by Pathology, University Hospital Basel and School of Life Sciences, FHNW.} 

Leader: Urs Jenal 

Co-leader: Marek Basler

Researchers: Tania Distler, Knut Drescher, Mara Esposito, Alexander Harms, Hector Hernandez, Tina Junne, Carolyn King, Alexander Klotz, Marco Kuhn, Benoit Laventie, Enea Maffei, Pablo Manfredi, Alexandre Persat, Tamar Rossy, Aisylu Shaidullina, Leoni Swart, Rosmarie Sütterlin, Lorenzo Tala, Alejandro Tejada Arranz, Alessandra Vitale

P. aeruginosa is an important Gram-negative opportunistic human pathogen frequently isolated from life-threatening hospital infections, including pneumonia, septicemia, burn and wound infections. Acute and chronic P. aeruginosa infections are associated with significant mortality, and immunocompromised people and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are at particular risk. Because of its intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics, and increasing resistance to all other available antibiotics, P. aeruginosa has become a major threat to human health and was recently classified as a critical priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO).

WP-PAE aims to accelerate discovery and development of novel anti-pseudomonal treatments by developing in-vitro models that approximate the physiological state of P. aeruginosa in the human lung.

The three main objectives: 

• Objective 1: To determine P. aeruginosa habitats, physiological states, and responses to antibiotics in human lungs. 
• Objective 2:  To develop improved lung-mimicking infection models by using in-patient data as guidance and benchmarks.
• Objective 3:  To utilize single cell biomarkers and CRISPRi-seq to dissect P. aeruginosa physiology during antibiotic exposure in different in-vitro models.