Research
Research interests
- Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has been described by the World health Organisation (WHO) as the largest global challenges to face modern medicine. Bacterial Biofilms are a central to one of the key contributors to AMR. These are communities in which cells can confer increased tolerance to anti-microbial compounds and human immune cells.
- Bhavik's reserach interest is rooted in early drug discovery to combat AMR, with a focus on identification and characterisation of novel drug targets and development of biologically relevant models to investigate these biofilm infections.
- Bhavik's PhD project focuses on the virulence factor LasB in P. aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients. This is of particular interest as it is a potential target for novel metalloprotease inhibitor compounds developed by the pharmaceutical company ANTABIO. The project has utilised genomic studies, protein structure modelling, molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, host-pathogen interaction modelling and advanced microscopy to investigate this as a protein target.