Salve Regina University today announced that Dr. Susan Meschwitz, a chemistry professor at the university, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Health to research treatments for urinary tract infections — which are experienced by 50-60% of women in their lifetime and highly recurrent.
More from the announcement
According to the National Institute of Health 50-60% of women will develop urinary tract infections (UTIs) in their lifetime, with 27% of women experiencing a recurrence within 12 months, even after successful antibiotic treatment.
Dr. Susan Meschwitz, chemistry professor at Salve Regina University, was recently awarded a grant to research new treatments for the infection, working alongside undergraduate students. The $387,466 award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will fund her research project titled “Peptide cues in the environment regulate bacterial dormancy.”
The three-year project aims to provide better understanding and treatment of recurrent UTIs by synthesizing, identifying and characterizing molecules that can lead to the development of new therapeutic agents to treat them. The project continues Dr. Meschwitz’s work focused on alternative treatments as UTIs become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. It is part of a collaborative study that will be conducted with University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Dr. Jodi Camberg and Dr. David Rowley.
“This prestigious national award to support Dr. Meschwitz’s work shines a light on the research environment here at Salve and the role our faculty and students can play to support the advancement of women’s health on a global scale,” said Salve president Dr. Kelli J. Armstrong. “Her project embodies what is at the heart of our mercy mission: hands-on learning experiences for our students with a focus on making a positive difference in the world for others.”
Rigorous hands-on training for undergraduate students
NIH Academic Research Enhancement Awards (R15) provide funding for small-scale, new, or ongoing health-related meritorious research projects and give undergraduate students an opportunity to gain significant biomedical research experience.
As such, a key focus for Dr. Meschwitz’s project will be to train several Salve undergraduate students each year to conduct experiments and analyze data. In her laboratory they will be involved with all aspects of the project including peptide synthesis and characterization, screening and sequencing mutants, and identifying protein targets. Dr. Meschwitz said, “When working with student researchers, I like to start with teaching basic laboratory techniques. The students will learn how to use instrumentation and read the scientific literature. They shadow current students in the lab. We will meet weekly to brainstorm and ask questions: What happened? What does it mean? What should we do next? It’s critical thinking in action.”
The Salve undergraduates will also get the opportunity to work alongside graduate students and faculty at URI where they can get a feel for what graduate school is like. The project will extend across the academic years and summers, and during this time, participating students will have the opportunity to travel to conferences and present their results.
Dr. Meschwitz noted, “Students will be working on new ideas; on things that haven’t been done before. They’re going to be the ones to help find the answers, or the non-answer. With NIH support they’re going to receive hands-on experience in the lab where they will develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This experience will help prepare them for their future, whether they enter the biomedical workforce or continue to graduate school.”
