The race to rescue antibiotics
Join Group Leader Jeannine Hess as she explains how her lab is reimagining the fight against drug-resistant infections.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global health challenges of our time. Each year, more than a million people die from infections that no longer respond to existing antibiotics.
While antibiotics have saved countless lives since their discovery, bacteria are evolving resistance faster than we can develop new drugs to stop them. The antibiotic pipeline has slowed to a trickle, but innovative chemistry could help turn the tide.
By harnessing the unique properties of metal-based compounds and creative molecular design, her team is uncovering new ways to outsmart stubborn bacteria and breathe new life into the search for next-generation antibiotics.
Jeannine has worked at the interface of chemistry and biology for over a decade. After completing her PhD at the University of Zurich and a research fellowship at the University of Cambridge, she established her independent research group at the Francis Crick Institute in 2021, with a joint affiliation to King’s College London, where she is a Senior Lecturer.
Her lab focuses on using metal complexes to develop new antimicrobial strategies and to understand how chemical structure shapes biological activity.
Crick Crash Courses started life as talks for our staff, to help everyone working here, scientists and non-scientists, better understand the Crick's discovery research into how life works.
We're now opening our doors to our crash course talks, giving everyone, everywhere, the opportunity to hear directly from our scientists as they investigate some of the most complex challenges in human health.
