- To combat antibiotic resistance
- To preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics, the treatment of bacterial infections
- Development of new strategies for disease control in children.
- To prevent and counter the spread of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and other insects
WHAT THE BANDI GROUP IS ABOUT
The group coordinated by Prof. Claudio Bandi is structured into two research units, active in different areas of medical microbiology, understood in the broadest sense.
In the strictly microbiological field, the group is concerned with the reconstruction of evolutionary patterns in multidrug-resistant bacteria, including the reconstruction of epidemic outbreaks.
In addition, there is an active line of research on the microbiota of Homo sapiens and other organisms, with a focus on as yet little-studied bacterial phyla.
In parasitology and entomology, the group deals with arthropod vectors of infectious diseases of humans and animals, particularly mosquitoes, including alien and invasive species.
In addition, the group has initiated a line of research in immunology aimed at developing eukaryotic microorganisms as vaccine platforms and as a source of post-biotics for possible uses as immunomodulating agents.
SERVICE OFFERED
The services offered by the group are closely related to its expertise: bioinformatics, genomics, phylogenomics and genomic epidemiology; metagenomics, in relation to the study of microbial communities in general, and the microbiota in particular; medical entomology, in relation to field monitoring on the presence of vectors (mosquitoes, ticks, phlebotomus), performing insectarium studies on mosquitoes, (including assays on the efficacy of insecticides and biological control methods); production of antigens through a new vaccine platform.
The group can offer comprehensive support to pathogenic microorganism characterization and epidemiological reconstruction through genomic, bioinformatics, and computational methodologies.
The expertise available allows for the performance of phylogenomic and comparative genomics analyses, as well as studies on the microbiota, both amplicon-based and through shotgun metagenomics.
The group maintains an insectarium where various mosquito species are kept, and possesses the expertise to perform insecticide efficacy assays, biological control methods, and vector monitoring studies in the field.
