Frank Schweizer PhD

Cross appointments

Holds cross appointments with:

Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba

 

Research achievements

Research summary

Infections caused by gram-negative bacteria remain a major threat to public health and global economic recovery.

Despite significant investments into antibiotic discovery in the past, no new antibiotic class against gram-negative bacteria has been approved in half a century.

In the absence of new antibiotics, approaches that restore antibiotic susceptibility against antibiotic-resistant pathogens are needed.

This can be achieved by using helper molecules termed antibiotic adjuvants that overcome/prevent antibiotic resistance development.

My group specializes in the design, synthesis and antibacterial properties of adjuvants which when combined with legacy antibiotics restore susceptibility in antibiotics against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Research themes

  • Antibacterial drug discovery
  • Novel approaches to overcome bacterial resistance

Research interests

  • Antibacterial drug discovery
  • Antibiotic adjuvants
  • Efflux pump inhibitors
  • Gram-negative bacteria
  • Outer membrane permeabilizers
  • Pseudomonas aerguinosa

Keywords

  • Aminoglycosides
  • Antibiotic adjuvants
  • Antimicrobial peptides
  • Bacterial resistance
  • Gram-negative bacteria
  • Hybrid antibiotics

Research groups

I am collaborating with various research groups, including Dr. George Zhanel and Dr. Ayush Kumar.

Biography

Frank Schweizer is a professor of chemistry in the departments of chemistry and medical microbiology/infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.

He received his diploma from the University of Freiburg in 1993 and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Alberta in 1998. He conducted postdoctoral work as a fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the Noguchi Institute in Tokyo and also at the University of Alberta before starting his independent career in 2002.

His research is focused on preclinical drug discovery and development.

He has coauthored more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals and holds over 10 patents.

Education

PhD chemistry, University of Alberta, Canada (1998)

Dipl.Chem. chemistry, Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany (1993)

Awards

Clarivate Highly cited researcher award (2022)

Clarivate Highly cited researcher award (2021)

Faculty of Science Award for Established Research Excellence Category: Life Sciences (2019)

Department of Chemistry Distinguished Research Award (2018)

UofM Merit Award for Research (2016)

MHRC-Manitoba Research Chair Award (2012-2017)

UofM Merit Award for Research (2012)

CFI – Leader Opportunity Award (2008/2009)

Centre on Aging Research Fellowship Award (2005)

Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, Visiting Post-Doctoral-Research Fellowship Award (1998-2000)

Contact us

Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Max Rady College of Medicine
Room 543 - 745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada

MMID1@umanitoba.ca
204-789-3299
204-789-3926