Rachel Marie Lahowetz

Graduate Student

rachel.lahowetz@bcm.edu

BS from Texas Tech University: 05/2021 - Lubbock, Texas, United States; Microbiology

Determine how phage-antibiotic co-administration alters bacterial evolution: Phage therapy – the use of phage to treat bacterial infections – is a promising approach to combat antimicrobial resistance. Bacteria can evolve resistance to phage, but this frequently incurs a fitness cost and can result in re-sensitization to antibiotics. However, it is not well understood if and how antibiotics, when co-administered with phage, alter bacterial evolution of resistance. To determine this, I am evolving bacteria under a wide range of phage-antibiotic pressures, using Whole Genome Sequencing to identify resistance mutations, and investigating effects of these mutations on bacterial fitness and virulence. This will aid in the development of phage cocktails that can anticipate and preclude mechanisms of resistance, improving feasibility of phage therapy on a larger scale.

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