Carbapenem Resistance

Through this NIAID-funded project, we will aim to understand the epidemiology of carbapenem resistance in our partner hospitals and better understand mechanisms of resistance as we search for novel beta-lactamase genes in the sequenced organisms. We will also study the mechanism of the spread of resistance (e.g. through clonal spread vs. gene transfer). We will compare the genomic sequences of prospectively sampled carbapenem-resistant enterobacteria as well as species-matched susceptible strains in three major medical institutions in Boston as well as two additional facilities in California, and will monitor changes in sequenced isolates over a nine to twelve month period within each institution. We will also sequence a number of retrospectively collected isolates of carbapenem-resistant strains from the Boston institutions for historical and comparative purposes.