Development of a novel human oral tissue model of gonorrhoea infection to screen for new treatments for oral gonorrhoea
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Associate Professor / Deputy Head - Sexual Health Unit
A/Prof Fabian Kong
Project Details
Oral Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections are common, affecting 2 to 10% of the population. Oropharyngeal infections are important because (1) cure rates at the oral site are up to 20% lower than at the genital site; (2) play a major role in transmission in the population through oral sex and use of saliva and (3) they are more likely to facilitate the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). NG has now developed resistance to all classes of antibiotics recommended for gonorrhoea treatment and in 2017, the WHO declared AMR NG as an urgent global threat.
New treatments for NG are scarce and among emerging treatments, all currently have efficacies below the USA CDC efficacy criteria of 95% for treating infections in the oropharynx. Therefore there is an urgent need to find new treatments for oral NG.
We have developed the world's first in-vitro model of NG infection/colonization in the human oropharynx. Through this model, we will screen for new treatments for oral NG.
This is a collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Melbourne Dental School and Melbourne School of Population and Global Health) and the World Health Organisation. Please see the 3 min YouTube video for more information.
Researchers
Project Lead:
A/Prof Fabian Kong
Current investigators:
A/Prof Antonio Celentano
Rita Paolini
Caroline Moore
Prof Magnus Unemo, World Health Organisation
Prof Jane Hocking
Current collaborators:
Wintermute Biomedical Pty Ltd
University of QLD - Institute for Molecular Biosciences
University of WA - Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases
Funding
ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub to combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR Hub).
(Project ID IH190100021)
** PhD position and information available here
NOTE: For international students please note English proficiency requirements for Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences here
i.e. IELTS scores: Overall & writing at least 7.0; Listen/reading/speaking at least 6.0. This must be within the last 2 years. *** Note: Currently not recruiting international students but will consider Australia based students ***
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD students, Post Doctor Researchers to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.
Research Outcomes
Chow EPF, Fairley CK, Kong FYS. STI pathogens in the oropharynx: update on screening and treatment. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 2024, doi:10.1097/QCO.0000000000000997
Unemo M, Kong FYS. Doxycycline-PEP - novel and promising but needs monitoring. Nat Rev Urol 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41585-023-00788-1.
Kong FYS, Kenyon C, Unemo M. Important considerations regarding the widespread use of doxycycline chemoprophylaxis against sexually transmitted infections. J Antimicrob Chemother 2023. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkad129.
Kong FYS, Unemo M, Lim SH et al. Optimisation of treatments for oral Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection: Pharmacokinetics Study (STI-PK project) – study protocol for non-randomised clinical trial, BMJ Open 2022, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064782
Kong FYS, Hocking JS. Treating pharyngeal gonorrhoea continues to remain a challenge. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2022, doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00649-6
Kong FYS, Hatzis CL, Lau et al. Treatment efficacy for pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2020. doi:10.1093/jac/dkaa300
Kong FYS, Hocking JS, Fairley CF et al. Is there a future for the ongoing use of azithromycin for the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae? Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2020. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2019.10.015
Kong FYS, Horner P, Unemo M et al. Pharmacokinetic considerations regarding the treatment of bacterial sexually transmitted infections with azithromycin: a review. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2019. doi: 10.1093/jac/dky548