Skip to main content
Intellect

BYU chemistry professor receives $2.9 million NIAID grant

A faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University recently received a $2.9 million research grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The grant will fund Paul Savage's continuing research on a family of antimicrobial agents that he developed called ceragenins.

Savage refers to ceragenins as “mimics” of the body's antimicrobial peptides, compounds that act as the body’s front-line defenses against infection and many diseases.

“Often people who suffer from infections do not have sufficient of these antimicrobial peptides to naturally battle intruding bacteria and viruses,” he said. “Medical experts have traditionally prescribed various types of antibiotic medications to help the body's natural defenses fight infection. However, many bacteria can develop a resistance to these antibiotics, rendering them largely ineffective.”

Savage’s “mimics” are so similar to the body's natural peptides that they can often evade many of the complications typically associated with more traditional antibiotics. He identifies the inability of bacteria to develop resistance to ceragenins as a major benefit that may allow new antibiotics to successfully battle infections that other medicines have heretofore failed to eradicate.

“Ceragenins are active against a broad spectrum of bacteria, including drug-resistant organisms,” he said. Furthermore, ceragenins maintain their effectiveness for an extended period of time, making them more efficient than many other drugs.

“Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is increasing at an alarming rate,” Savage said. “The ceragenins do not readily engender resistance, so it is likely that they can be used for extended periods without having bacteria become immune to their effects.”

As a result of these unique properties, patients could potentially enjoy the positive effects of these new antibiotics longer than they otherwise could with traditional medications.

Savage’s NIAID grant will allow for further exploration of this medical breakthrough that could yield widespread advantages in the near future.

For more information, contact Paul Savage at (801) 422-4020.

Writer: Natalie Wilson

Paul Savage Forum pic.jpg
Photo by LDS Church Public Affairs

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Innovative group of BYU students roll out new AI tech to solve parking problems

March 19, 2024
A group of enterprising BYU students aim to significantly — if not entirely — reduce parking violations in paid parking lots, college and otherwise. And their idea, an AI detection and tracking system called Spot Parking (more on that in a minute), just got a major endorsement and $12,000 in cash by winning the 2024 BYU Student Innovator of the Year (SIOY) competition.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Q&A with President Reese on BYU’s undergraduate teaching focus

March 15, 2024
In this Q&A series with President Reese, he shares more about the seven initiatives he shared in his 2023 inaugural response and how they apply to BYU employees.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU math videos aim to transform equations into excitement

March 13, 2024
From calculating the perfect bottle flip to understanding how much force is behind a penny dropped off a skyscraper, Math the World videos creatively answer the age-old math question, “When will I ever use this?”
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=