ENG-EPSRC EFRI ELiS: Developing probiotic interventions to reduce the emergence and persistence of pathogens in built environments

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The risk of infection in built environments (BE) is unavoidable. Inhabitants carry infection agents in their lungs and sinuses, and on their skin. They can also acquire infectious agents through contact with contaminated surfaces. Dry, nutrient poor healthcare environments are model systems to understand how virulence and drug resistance emerges and persists on surfaces. Bacillus spore containing cleaning products have been shown to reduce Multi-Drug Resistant Organism (MDRO) abundance on hard surfaces by 50-89% when compared to traditional cleaning products. Preliminary data suggests that Bacillus can competitively exclude MDROs on surfaces. This requires continual reapplication of active Bacillus, which is not feasible in many settings. Therefore, it is proposed to engineer new Bacillus species that promote long-term viability and reduce abundance of MDROs. These will be integrated into new surface materials. Finally, ethical oversight studies with building participants will be performed. The team will attempt to understand how deployment of Bacillus-active materials can be used improve civic responsibility for these innovations as well as define the parameters for their use. This project will also promote equitable recruitment and transdisciplinary training opportunities for underrepresented minorities and broad approaches to disseminate results to national stakeholders.The goal of this proposal is to engineer Bacillus strains for survival and pathogen exclusion and deploy them onto or into porous building materials. The PI and Co-PIs will engineer Bacillus strains that exhibit survival and pathogen exclusion traits when integrated into porous building materials. Efficacy will be quantified by competitive exclusion of MDROs and long-term viability. Deploying an iterative process of (i) biochemical modeling of Bacillus-pathogen competition on different surface materials, (ii) genetic manipulation of the B. subtilis strains to improve activity and persistence, and (iii) integration of strains into composite materials will help to develop optimal strain constructions. To quantify perceived human and environmental health impacts from material deployment, building inhabitants will be surveyed to understand perceptions of civic responsibility for these innovations and social barriers to adoption. The proposed work will have broad impact. The team will promote the equitable recruitment and mentorship of trainees underrepresented in Engineering. Graduate industry internships will be provided in molecular engineering through two internships with Novozymes and Clorox who are actively pursuing probiotic cleaning product development. An independent research group will perform formative and summative assessment of the program elements. Finally, collaboration with ASHRAE will facilitate dissemination of the results of these investigations broadly within the industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.