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St George’s, University of London has appointed Professor Paul Heath as the new Director of the Institute for Infection and Immunity.
Dr Yanmin Hu is a Senior Lecturer. Her main research interests are in tuberculosis and antibiotic discovery.
The scientific and intellectual imperatives for her research include new drugs and better drug regimen for tuberculosis which infects one third of world population and kills approximately two million people every year and other important infectious diseases; improved chemotherapy to eradicate persistent bacteria; molecular approaches to understand the processes of infection and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other pathogens.
Dr Hu’s research has focused on:
Latent M. tuberculosis gene expression. The significance of the discovery is that dormant bacteria in tuberculosis are metabolically active although they switch off their overall metabolic activity.
Functions of TB genes in M. tuberculosis latency, virulence and pathogenesis. The significance of the research is the discovery of the roles of stress associated genes in TB pathogenesis and persistence. For example, deletion of hspX gene, encoding alpha-crystallin-like protein, caused fast bacterial growth in animal models. Cpn60.1 gene was essential in bacterial granulomatous disease. Thiol Peroxidase TPX was important for the bacterium to deal with intracellular stress. Cholesterol degradation genes were essential for M. tuberculosis virulence and pathogenesis.
Development of novel in vitro tuberculosis persistent models and modified the traditional Cornell tuberculosis model to assess disease relapse and the therapeutic potential of novel antibiotics by incorporation of Resuscitation Promoting Factors (RPF TB culture supernatants) to disease models. The group, for the first time, uncovered hidden populations of persistent M. tuberculosis in mice currently undetectable by conventional detection methods, which could be completely eradicated with high dose rifampicin or bedaquiline containing drug-regimens. This enabled more rapid elimination of persistent bacilli and offers hope for complete eradication of TB in the future.
Discovery of new drug and new drug combination. Dr Yanmin Hu and Professor Coates have invented a new way of making antibiotics and antibiotic combination which has been commercialized by Helperby Therapeutics, a St George’s spin-out company.
Dr Hu obtained a first class Honours Degree in Biological Sciences in the Hebei Teacher’s University, China. She gained her PhD in Medical Microbiology entitled “differential gene expression in dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis” at St George’s, University of London, where she continued her post-doctoral research on elucidating the molecular pathogenesis of tuberculosis and novel drug discovery. In 1993, she was appointed the youngest professor of microbiology for her work on antibiotic resistance in Hebei Teacher’s University, China.
Dr Hu is a member of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and has served on the numerous grant review boards and referee panels, such as the Medical Research Council and the Health and Medical Research Fund, Hong Kong. She has served in the Editorial Board in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
2020-2022 MRC Research Grant Principal Investigator
2016- Jan 2021 IMI European Gram-Negative Antibacterial Engine Principal Investigator
2017-2018 MRC New Investigator Research Grant. Principal Investigator
2012-2017 IMI. PREDICT-TB. 15 million euros. Model-based preclinical development of anti-tuberculosis drug combinations. Co-PI
2012-2015 European Commission. BAC-ATTACK. 3 million euros. A stealth attack tool for preventing clinical drug resistance through a unique self-regenerating surface . Dr Hu and Professor Coates work with six research centres in Europe to develop a new anti-bacterial coating for catheters and implants. Co-PI
Professor Stephen Gillespie (University of St Andrew)
Dr Gerry Davies – Senior lecturer, Liverpool University
Professor Gurdyal Besra - School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Professor Mike Berry – University of Leicester
Dr Galina Mukamolova - University of Leicester
Professor Brian Henderson - UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences
Dr Peter Lund - Reader in Molecular Microbiology, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Professor Gunter Schneider - Department of Medical Biochemistry & Biophysics Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Dr Robert Van Der Geize - Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Department of Microbiology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Dr Maria Jesus Garcia - Senior lecturer, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Autonoma University of Madrid
Dr Hu supervises BSc projects. She is also a personal tutor for the Medicine MBBS course.
Dr Hu supervises MSc and PhD projects.
Dr Hu supervises Extra Mural Year student research projects, King’s College London.
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