Designing the Perfect Predator: Phage Therapy

Superbugs Unplugged

On this episode, we are taking a closer look at the extremely real, human threat of antibiotic resistant infections, and discussing how momentum for beating these harmful bugs can start from just one person with a determination to find a solution. Co-host Matthew Wellington from U.S. PIRG interviewed Dr. Steffanie Strathdee, co-author of the book The Perfect Predator - A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug. Dr. Strathdee is the Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences, Harold Simon Professor at the University of California San Diego School (UCSD) of Medicine and Co-Director at the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. In this episode, she tells the story of how her husband, Tom Patterson, was infected with a bacteria that was resistant to all available antibiotics and how doctors and researchers from around the world saved his life with a hundred year old forgotten cure—phage therapy—that shows promise as a weapon to tackle the global superbug crisis. Her husband co-authored the book with her and is also a renowned scientist at UCSD. To wrap up, Matt will dive into the news and updates currently chiming across the world of antibiotic resistance.