Dr Sohinee Sarkar receives Strategic Research Fund Fellowship

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Dr Sohinee Sarkar will join collaborators in India as part of an international effort to create probiotic treatments for peptic ulcers and other severe stomach illnesses.

Dr Sarkar has been awarded an Australia–India Strategic Research Fund Fellowship through the Australian Academy of Science to travel to Amity University in Maharashtra, India.

She will study the effectiveness of engineered probiotics, created in the lab, against helicobacter pylori bacteria. These bacteria are found in nearly half of the world’s population but can break down the stomach’s protective lining, potentially leading to gastritis, painful ulcers or stomach cancer. These illnesses disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries as well as Indigenous populations in Australia and New Zealand.

Image: Dr Sohinee Sarkar

“Rising antibiotic resistance is steadily reducing the effectiveness of standard treatments for helicobacter pylori bacteria, creating an urgent need for new and sustainable solutions,” Dr Sakar said. “Much of the chronic illness caused by the bacteria is from chronic inflammation and tissue damage rather than the bug itself.

“Working with fellow researchers in India, we will see if engineering in the lab friendly gut bacteria to produce a probiotic-based treatment can help reduce the body’s inflammatory response while preserving normal flora in the stomach.”

Dr Sarkar said the findings would help inform international preclinical testing.

“After we confirm the probiotic potential of this treatment in India, we can transfer the strains to MCRI and genetically modify them ahead of further preclinical testing,” she said.

“This gets us one step closer to offering probiotics as a treatment for peptic ulcers, ultimately reducing cases of stomach cancer, bolstering our natural microbiome and addressing our reliance on antibiotics as a frontline treatment.”

Read more about MCRI’s Infection, Immunity and Global Health research.