Dr. Sohinee Sarkar has been an Infectious Diseases researcher in academia for the past 12 years with a focus on studying bacterial superbug infections. Dr. Sarkar has expertise in designing and optimising animal infection and cell culture models along with associated molecular biology tools to better understand how different human pathogens cause disease which, in turn, can help identify new targets for the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
The global rise in antibiotic resistance coupled with paucity of new antimicrobials entering the market presents a stark outlook for the future where common infections could once again become deadly and this forms the crux of her research endeavours. In her current role as a senior researcher within the Infection & Immunity department at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Dr. Sarkar has been working on various projects tying into the aforementioned theme of designing novel therapeutics/vaccine targets for bacterial pathogens refractory to traditional antibiotic treatment. One of her primary projects centres around Helicobacter pylori, the main cause of gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer (fifth most deadliest cancer in the world). Over the years H. pylori has acquired significant antibiotic resistance and eradication remains a challenge, particularly in developing countries. Dr. Sarkar’s research is tackling this via a) understanding the immune mechanisms driving H. pylori associated gastritis, and b) identifying a new treatment strategy by targeting a host factor that controls H. pylori associated gastritis.

Dr. Sarkar is also leading another project establishing a new drug discovery pipeline for a critical cystic fibrosis (CF) superbug, Mycobacterium abscessus. Dr. Sarkar and her collaborators in MCRI’s Stem Cell Initiative have designed a new in vitro model that recreates the biological niche of this opportunistic pathogen for high throughput drug screening. The drug discovery pipeline also incorporates an improved mouse model of mycobacterial lung infection for validation studies of identified drug candidates.

Dr. Sarkar is also collaborating with an industry partner to test their proprietary antimicrobial formulations against various bacterial pathogens affecting the GIT and respiratory tract in relevant cell culture and animal models of infection.