Tetiana Saukh from the University of Graz was awarded the imh YOUNG PHARMA AWARD 2024.
It is an incredible opportunity to present your own projects and present them to a professional audience.
Tetiana Saukh
Vienna (OTS) – A young researcher appears to have made a breakthrough in combating LPS-induced sepsis. At least the expert jury and the expert audience at the pharmaKON future conference were impressed by their project. That’s why the YOUNG PHARMA AWARD was awarded to Tetiana Saukh (Uni Graz) on May 13, 2024 in Mauerbach Castle Park. In her research project, she examined both the antibacterial and immunomodulatory activity of LPS-binding peptides individually and in combination therapy. According to their findings, this combination therapy of the new Pept-1 with polymyxin represents an innovative and promising strategy in the fight against LPS-induced sepsis.
Tetiana Saukh from the Institute of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Graz was the clear winner
The award winner describes her project as follows: The body’s immune response to bacterial infections represents a serious problem. In Gram-negative bacteria, this is often caused by the release of their endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the bloodstream. The last resort antibiotic polymyxin is able to bind a part of LPS, the so-called lipid-A tail, and thereby destroy the bacterial membrane, which ultimately means the death of the bacterium. However, polymyxins are ineffective against bacteria that readily alter LPS. The one from Dr. Malanovic’s newly developed non-toxic active ingredient Pept-1 has a similar effect, but binds to a different LPS structural part, the O-antigen. If both drugs bind to LPS, an improvement in activities should be achieved through a more efficient mechanism.
In our project, we therefore investigated both the antibacterial and immunomodulatory activity of these LPS-binding peptides both individually and in combination therapy. Pept-1 not only enhances polymyxin’s effect against bacteria, but also efficiently binds LPS, thereby neutralizing it and preventing the pro-inflammatory response to it. The combination therapy of the new Pept-1 with polymyxin therefore represents an innovative and promising strategy in the fight against LPS-induced sepsis.
Tetiana Saukh was happy about the win: „It is an incredible opportunity to present your own projects and present them to a professional audience.
“ She also appreciated the opportunity to communicate and network with a scientific network as part of the conference.
Representatives of the FH Campus Vienna achieved second and third place
Second place went to Hannah Haller, whose project investigates how the subgroup of bacteria (=non-piliated Streptococcus pneumoniae) bind to human nerve cells. She hopes that the results of this study can help develop an effective therapy against the sequelae of bacterial meningitis. Anna Bandura took third place with the project “Investigating human-specific effects of drugs and pollutants on posterior lateral plate mesoderm-organoids”.
Top-class experts evaluated the submitted projects
Before the conference, the expert jury had the challenging task of selecting the three best projects based on the following criteria: innovation, benefit for patients and practical applicability. The expert panel – Christoph Baumgärtel (drug expert and book author), Gunda Gittler (Barmwärme Brüder Pharmacy Linz), Dominik Kaiser (Ludwigs-Apotheke OG), Jochen Klein (Professor of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Mainz) and Evelyn Walter (CEO, Institute for Pharmaeconomic Research GmbH) – was impressed by the quality of the final projects.
About the YOUNG PHARMA AWARD
The YOUNG PHARMA AWARD has been awarded by imh GmbH since 2019 at the pharmaKON future conference to create a bridge between students and the Austrian pharmaceutical industry. Prizes are awarded for innovative and positively assessed research work with practical benefits for patients.
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