Research group Silvio Daniel Brugger

Bacterial interspecies interactions in the human host as a source for microbiota-targeted therapies

Projects

• Bacterial interspecies interactions in the upper respiratory tract – microbiota engineering for prevention of invasive disease (Promedica Foundation, Walter und Gertrud Siegenthaler Stiftung).
• The bacterial microbiota in burn patients – understanding microbial evolution under antibiotic selection pressure for future therapeutic and preventive approaches (Béatrice-Ederer-Weber Foundation. Collaboration with Philipp Bühler).
• MRSA/MSSA eradication with commensals. (Gebert Rüf Foundation, Microbials Grant. Collaboration with Lucio Isa and Markus Hilty).
• KFSP – BacVivo – Precision medicine for bacterial infections. Clinical Research Priority Programm (CRPP) University of Zürich
• SARS-CoV-2-Induced Immune Alterations and their Role in Post-COVID Syndrome. (The Loop Zurich / Helmut Horten Stiftung, lead Roland Martin)).
• Protective and Pathogenic T Cell Immunity During SARS-CoV-2 Infection. (SNF, Lead Roland Martin).

Members

• Pascal M. Frey, M.D., M.Sc., PostDoc, Epidemiologist
  Project: Quantitative Fitness Analysis (QFA), Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
• Yulia Butscheid, Ph.D., M.D.-Student
  Project: MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Thomas C. Scheier, M.D., ID Fellow
  Project: VRE detection, novel typing methods
  Collaboration: PD Alban Ramette, University of Bern
• Jeruscha Baum, M.Sc., PhD Student
  Project: MRSA/MSSA eradications with commensals
  Funding: Gebert-Rüf-Foundation
  Collaboration: Prof. Lucio Isa, ETHZ, PD Markus Hilty, University of Bern
• Judith Bergada Pijuan, M.Sc., PhD-Student
  Project: Molecular mechanisms mediating the inhibition of human upper respiratory tract pathobionts by the commensals Dolosigranulum pigrum and Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum
  Funding: Promedica Foundation
  Collaboration: Prof. Mattia Zampieri, ETHZ
• Giorgio Beringer, M.D.-Ph.D., Student
  Project: S. argenteus virulence and population diversity
  Joint supervision with Prof. A. Zinkernagel
• Chun-Chi Chang, M.Sc. PhD-Student
  Project: Commensals in human upper respiratory tract and host innate immunity: Modulating functional capacity of innate immune response by nasal commensals against pathobionts
  Joint supervision with Prof. A. Zinkernagel and Dr. S. Mairpady Shambat
  Project: The bacterial microbiota in burn patients – understanding microbial evolution under antibiotic selection pressure for future therapeutic and preventive approaches
  Funding: Béatrice-Ederer-Weber Foundation
  Collaboration: Dr. Philipp Bühler, USZ, Dr. Srikanth Mairpady Shambat, USZ

Funding

• Promedica Foundation, Béatrice-Ederer-Weber Foundation, Walter und Gertrud Siegenthaler Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), The Loop Zurich (Helmut Horten Foundation), KFSP – BacVivo – Precision medicine for bacterial infections.Clinical Research Priority Programm (CRPP) University of Zürich.
• Previous Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), Swiss Foundation for Grants in Biology and Medicine (SFGBM), Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research.

Collaborations

• Annelies Zinkernagel, Dr. Srikanth Mairpady Shambat, PD Dr. Barbara Hasse, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, USZ
• Nicolas Müller, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, USZ
• Lucio Isa, ETHZ
• Roland Marin, Dr. Ilijas Jelcic, MIMS, USZ
• Roger Koyos, Dr. Burcu Tepekule, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, USZ
• Philipp Bühler and Prof. Reto Schüpbach, Institute for Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland
• PD Dr. Markus Hilty and PD Dr. Alban Ramette, Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Switzerland
• Katherine P. Lemon, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• Melinda M. Pettigrew, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
• Lukas Flatz, University of Tübingen
• Mattia Zampieri, ETHZ
• Sven Hobbie, Institute for Medical Microbiology, UZH
• David Holzmann, PD Dr. Michael Soyka, Department of ENT, USZ
  Prof. Emma Slack, ETHZ