DETROIT-On Oct. 19, 2010, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced four contracts to address antimicrobial resistance, including an award to Wayne State University for the project, "Targeted Clinical Trials to Reduce the Risk of Antimicrobial Resistance." The first year of funding for this grant is $2.8 million with an anticipated total of $12.8 million over the course of the contract if all project milestones are met.

Keith S. Kaye

Keith S. Kaye, M.D., M.P.H., professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases in WSU's School of Medicine, and corporate director of Infection Prevention, Hospital Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship at the Detroit Medical Center, will lead this multi-center study that will examine the antimicrobial therapy of multi-drug resistant, Acinetobacter baumannii, a major cause of bloodstream infection and pneumonia in health care settings.

The study involves four health care systems in Southeastern Michigan and the Detroit Medical Center will serve as the central campus for the project. The study will investigate colistin, a relatively old and toxic antimicrobial agent, which clinicians have been forced to use more frequently to treat bacteria that are resistant to all other available antibiotics. Various aspects of colistin therapy, including clinical outcomes, toxicity, pharmacokinetics and emergence of resistance will be analyzed during the study period.

"This contract is part of NIH's response to the growing threat and spread of antimicrobial resistance," said Dr. Kaye. "Infections due to health care-associated pathogens, such as Acinetobacter, are becoming increasingly common and difficult to treat. In some cases, colistin is the only active antimicrobial agent available for treatment of these resistant infections. The goal of this project is to improve the medical community's understanding of colistin and provide clinicians with much needed guidance pertaining to the treatment of infections due to multi-drug resistant pathogens such as Acinetobacter."

"This study and the others funded by NIAID aim to answer specific questions about how to improve treatment strategies, and look at new regimens of already licensed, off-patent antimicrobial therapies to reduce resistance," said Gloria Heppner, associate vice president for research at Wayne State University. "It will be key in protecting these therapies usefulness while facilitating new drug development."

For more information relating to this contract and NIH's program to fight antimicrobial resistance visit: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2010/Pages/ARtrialsAwards.aspx

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.