Wintermute project - CAUTI mixed biofilm treatments

Start year: 2024

Summary: Testing activity as a treatment: Researchers at the Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection (AIMI) at UTS have developed a mixed species biofilm model of catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). In this instance, the model community is inoculated into a microtitre plate format with catheter pieces attached to the plate lid, representing a variant of ‘pin-plates’ in artificial urine medium, where it forms a biofilm. The community members represent a range of common CAUTI pathogens. One application of this model is to test the efficacy of intervention strategies aimed at clearing the biofilm. The community and biofilm are assessed by colony forming unit (CFU) to determine efficacy of the treatment. Results are compared against the untreated control and a standard biocidal treatment. It is proposed here that AIMI researchers, in the laboratory of Prof Diane McDougald, will perform these tests for Wintermute. In this iteration, 7 formulations plus 1 sterile control per plate will be tested, where the catheters have been coated with compounds of interest to Wintermute.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.