Wellcome Career Development Award for Helge Dorfmueller

This award will allow Helge and his team to reveal new therapeutic opportunities against Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) that kills over half a million people globally each year. 



Helge, a Principal Investigator in the Division of Molecular Microbiology, said, “New therapeutic options are urgently required. We will elucidate the mechanisms by which Group A Carbohydrate (GAC) is built into the bacterial cell wall and acts as a critical virulence factor in host-pathogen interactions.” 



“We will use a range of approaches to fully understand GAC biosynthesis, its role during cell division and how it might benefit infections in humans. We anticipate that our results will lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to combat Strep A and closely related pathogens and enable studies on other important bacterial carbohydrates.” 



The eight years of funding will support three postdoctoral researchers and a technician. 



Further details on the research planned: Decoding biosynthesis machinery and role host.  



Information on the Career Development Award scheme.