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The discovery of antibiotics is widely regarded as one of, if not the, most significant medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. Prior to their widespread use, microbial infections in animals and man were significant, often life threatening afflictions that resulted in a major health and economic burden. However, in the 70 years since the first use of antibiotics microorganisms have developed a number of ingenious strategies to minimise the effectiveness of the antibiotics to which they are exposed. One of the most powerful ways to tackle the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance is to attempt to identify new antibiotics that are effective against resistant microbes and are safe to use in animals and man.

Natural products have long been, and continue to be, one of the preeminent sources of new antimicrobial compounds. Bristol has a long tradition in the identification, characterisation and clinical exploitation of natural product based antibiotics. Through this burgeoning collaboration with Thai researchers we are keen to explore complimentary research activities focused on the development of novel natural product based antimicrobials.

Our natural product theme leaders will be visiting Thailand during the week of the 9 – 13 January 2017. The objectives of the visit are to meet potential collaborators, and encourage applications to the Bristol Tackles Global Challenges travel grants. We would also be very interested in visiting facilities and learning about natural product collections unique to Thailand.

Contacts: 

Dr Andy Bailey, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Plant Pathology and Fungal Biology

• Email: Andy.Bailey@bristol.ac.uk
• Publications: http://tinyurl.com/zfvm42b

Dr Paul Race,  Lecturer in Biochemistry

• Email: Paul.Race@bristol.ac.uk
• Publications: http://tinyurl.com/z6328ke

Professor Chris Wills, Professor of Organic Chemistry

• Email: Chris.Willis@bristol.ac.uk
• Publications: http://tinyurl.com/zapqezo