Penn will initiate a four-year study with $5.5 million to find out more about prevention of staph infections.
A Penn study will receive part of the annual Pennsylvania share of the national tobacco settlement funds this year, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Everette James announced last month.
"These grants will support research that seeks to find answers to some of Pennsylvania's most pressing health issues," James said in a press release.
The new study will focus on infections due to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, often referred to as a staph infection.
MRSA is a potentially fatal strain of staph that is resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat staph infections, and is often contracted in hospitals or other health-care settings.
According to Ebbing Lautenbach, professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and senior scholar at Penn's Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the bacteria is an increasingly common cause of infections, particularly for children and young adults.
He emphasized that making efforts to identify effective strategies to control the spread of this bacteria is also very important.
"The infections can be difficult to treat because MRSA is resistant to many antibiotics," Lautenbach wrote in an e-mail. "MRSA has been shown to spread fairly easily from person to person."
The study will consist of several parts.
"Our study will focus on characterizing the spread of MRSA in households and how this relates to recurrent MRSA infections," Lautenbach wrote.
His team will also work on ways to prevent the infections from spreading into households.
Lautenbach recalled that the process of receiving grant money is very competitive, especially because the state focuses on topics that are clinically important to a broad population.
"Since we have a strong core group of researchers at Penn focusing on antibiotic resistance, we felt we could put together a very competitive application," Lautenbach wrote in an e-mail.
Penn will work on the study in collaboration with several other organizations, including The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn State University's Hershey Medical Center and Lincoln University.
Lautenbach believes that working as a team is key for this study.
"All sites will be involved in recruiting patients for the study as well as teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students interested in careers in clinical research," Lautenbach wrote.
Since the infection has particularly affected young people, he expects that this study will significantly benefit the Penn community.
"Things we learn from this study about how MRSA spreads and how to stop it will have a lot of relevance for the Penn community," Lautenbach wrote.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.