Chemistry seminar - Prof. Kathryn E. Fairfull-Smith
Title: Synthetic Strategies to Combat Bacterial Biofilms
Speaker: Kathryn E. Fairfull-Smith, Queensland University of Technology
Abstract: Drug resistant infections are implicated in over 1.2 million deaths per year worldwide.1 New solutions to the rise of antibiotic resistance are urgently required or it is estimated that by 2050 this number will reach 10 million deaths per year.2 The threat lies not only in infections by multi-drug resistant bacteria but also in infections involving communities of bacteria that aggregate and form biofilms. Biofilms are part of the natural lifecycle of bacteria and provide a mode of protection against antibiotics causing chronic infections that are difficult to treat.3 This presentation will discuss two of our recent approaches to target bacterial biofilms: modification of oxazolidinones and the design and synthesis of LasR inhibitors.
Biography: Kathryn Fairfull-Smith completed her BSc with First class Honours in 2000 and her PhD in organic chemistry in 2004 at Griffith University. After her PhD, she had held postdoctoral positions at the University of Sheffield (England), and at Queensland University of Technology. In 2009 she was awarded a QUT Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellowship to begin her independent research career and also joined the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology as a new chief investigator. In 2012 she was given a permanent position at QUT as a Senior Lecturer and in 2014 she was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. She has undertaken a number of research leadership positions at QUT. From 2018-2019 she was Leader of the Molecular Design and Synthesis Discipline. She is currently the Co-director of the QUT’s Centre for Materials Science and the Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Science. Her research interest broadly encompass the use of organic synthesis to build molecules or functionalise surfaces and polymers for various applications.
About School research seminars
Seminars cover all aspects of chemistry and molecular biosciences and are delivered by visiting national and international academics. PhD completion seminars are also incorporated into the program.
Seminars are usually held in person and occasionally via zoom. All are welcome to attend.
Contacts
- Chemistry: Dr Rowan Young, Dr David Cantillo
- Molecular Biosciences: Dr Mathew Jones