UTSW Researchers Innovate Personalized Therapy for Bacterial Infections

Kimberly Reynolds, PhD

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are advancing the frontier of personalized therapy for complex bacterial infections. Led by Kimberly Reynolds, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics, the team has pioneered a groundbreaking approach to address a persistent challenge in the field. Their innovative method leverages technology and techniques developed at UT Southwestern to predict how changes in gene expression and environment influence bacterial growth rates. Published in Cell Systems, their findings hold promise for diverse applications, from forecasting antibiotic sensitivity to deciphering genetic drivers of antibiotic resistance. Moreover, the research lays the groundwork for engineering bacterial strains to produce novel small-molecule compounds for drug discovery. Dr. Reynolds underscores the current practice of utilizing DNA and RNA data from patient samples to tailor infection treatments, highlighting the cutting-edge approach employed at institutions like UT Southwestern.