Angela Brown is quick to say that antibiotics can be lifesaving, essential drugs.
“But I do think that it’s really important to save them for when they’re absolutely necessary,” says Brown, an associate professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Her lab researches new strategies to fight bacterial infections, with the ultimate goal of using engineering to overcome the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Specifically, she and her team are researching the development of new drugs, and ways to increase the effectiveness of the drugs we have now.
In this episode, she talks about that research, the impact it’s had on her own life, and why she finds bacteria to be such a worthy adversary.
“I think bacteria are amazing,” she says. “They can settle in an environment that’s not conducive to settling. But they can kind of make it a nice cozy home for themselves. I think there’s so much to learn from them.”