The Impact of Air Pollution on Respiratory Bacteria and Antibiotic Resistance

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Air pollution particularly that due to particulate matter (PM), is the largest single global health risk, with increasing PM matching rises in respiratory diseases, notably chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD, the third largest cause of death, is a respiratory disease that involves progressive loss of lung function and is characterised by periodic exacerbations that worsen the disease. PM is a cause of exacerbation and following our novel work on the effect of PM on respiratory pathogens, we propose that PM changes the respiratory microbiome, potentiating respiratory infection that in turn exacerbates COPD. In this project you will determine how PM affects the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COPD patients, and the pathogens associated with COPD exacerbation. You will establish the correlations between the effect of PM on bacteria, COPD exacerbation, and clinical outcome. The project involves clinical research with patient contact, in vivo infection models, cutting edge molecular microbiology and bioinformatics.