Our mission is to advance the field of phage therapy for Mycobacterium Abscessus by isolating and characterizing novel M abscessus bacteriophages in South Florida.
A bacteriophage, phage for short, is a virus that infects and lyses bacteria. In nature, phages kill more bacteria than any other process. Using phages to treat infections has several potential advantages:
Phages specialize in hunting a single species, leaving the rest of the microbiome untouched. Phage therapy has virtually no side effects.
Phage therapy requires an extensive library of phages to match the patient’s bacterial strain. M abscessus is more common in South Florida than anywhere else, so we aim to find and characterize novel, never-before-seen species of M abscessus phage.
Your responsibilities
- Commit at least six hours a week to work on this project
- Flexible hours, task-based schedule
- Exhibit professionalism, punctuality and
- Fieldwork
- Driving to different parks collecting soil, water, and biofilm samples.
- Finish introductory microbiology lab and safety training
- Lab wetwork
- Isolating and purifying phages using aseptic techniques
What you will get
- Valuable experience in formulating, designing, and performing independent research
- A robust item on your resume
- A mention in potential future publications
- In the acknowledgments section or as coauthor, depending on your level of involvement.
- The right to name any new M abscessus phages you find, as long as you don’t name them after Nicholas Cage