The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) has awarded a prestigious Springboard Award to the Lydia Becker Institute’s Dr Sara Federici, supporting her work as an independent early-career researcher at The University of Manchester.

The AMS Springboard scheme provides up to £125,000 over two years alongside career support to help newly independent biomedical scientists launch their research careers and establish their own research programmes.

Dr Federici’s project sits at the interface of microbiology, immunology, and microbiome research. The work aims to contribute to the development of next-generation antimicrobial strategies to help tackle the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance – the ability of bacteria to survive and grow despite the presence of antibiotics.

Dr Federici’s research focuses on developing phage therapy as a precision approach to target bacteria involved in both infectious and non-communicable (non-infectious) diseases.

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that naturally infect and kill specific bacteria. Because they target precise bacterial strains without harming beneficial microbes, they offer a promising alternative to traditional, broad-spectrum antibiotics. With the funding from this award, Dr Federici will investigate how bacterial defence mechanisms influence the effectiveness of phages, using these insights to design more reliable and targeted phage-based treatments.

I’m thrilled to receive the AMS Springboard Award, which provides an exciting opportunity to establish my independent research programme. This funding will allow me to explore how we can harness phages to develop more precise and effective therapies, with the long-term aim of tackling antimicrobial resistance and improving treatment options for a wide range of diseases. 

 

Dr Sara Federici

Related