ERC Grant for Anna Hirsch
Prof Anna Hirsch from the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now succeeded in acquiring a coveted European Research Council (ERC) grant for the second time. Under the "Proof of Concept" funding program, she will receive €150,000 to bring her basic findings of novel antibiotics against resistant bacteria closer to a potential application.
Microbial resistance to commonly used antibiotics is on the rise worldwide and is increasingly complicating the treatment of infectious diseases. To counteract this trend, innovative antibiotics with previously unused mechanisms of action are urgently needed. Prof Anna Hirsch has set herself the task of developing precisely such active substances. Hirsch is head of the Department of Drug Design and Optimization at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), professor of medicinal chemistry at Saarland University and scientist in the research area "New Antibiotics" at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.
As part of her 2018 ERC Starting Grant, Anna Hirsch has already succeeded in identifying a number of novel molecules that target previously unused structures in bacteria and thus represent a promising starting point for the development of resistance-breaking antibiotics. One of these target structures is a protein called DnaN. This protein is an essential part of the bacterial machinery responsible for repairing and producing new DNA. Thus, if the activity of DnaN is impaired, the affected bacteria can no longer reproduce. This makes DnaN an extremely attractive target for the development of new active substances. The ERC Proof of Concept funding now obtained will give Anna Hirsch the opportunity to further optimize her most promising drug candidate.
Source: HIPS Press Release
