Michael Gilmore Wins Shark Tank Award to Advance Precision Therapy Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Michael Gilmore, PhD, the Sir William Osler Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS, is one of six winners of Mass General Brigham's inaugural Integrated Shark Tank competition. Michael received $50,000 to advance his team’s groundbreaking discovery of efagins (ee-FAY-jins), a new class of biological agents that target antibiotic-resistant bacteria with remarkable precision. Unlike antibiotics, efagins leave beneficial microbes untouched and do not appear to fuel resistance to existing treatments.

Led by Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate Janira Prichula, PhD,  the team will focus on engineering next-generation efagins to target even more drug-resistant pathogens, paving the way for innovative, precision-based therapies to combat one of the world’s most pressing health challenges.