KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� July 27, 2026 鈥� The discovery of antibiotics transformed modern medicine, turning once-deadly infections into treatable conditions and saving millions of lives. But decades of overuse and misuse have accelerated the rise of antibiotic resistance, allowing certain bacteria to evolve into dangerous 鈥渟uperbugs鈥� that evade even the most powerful drugs. As multidrug-resistant infections become increasingly difficult to treat, researchers are urgently seeking new strategies to stay ahead of these evolving pathogens.
In the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Pharmacy, is leading one such effort. Bleick鈥檚 research focuses on improving treatment for drug-resistant bacterial infections, particularly those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the most prevalent and challenging superbugs in hospitals and healthcare settings.
鈥淲hat motivates me most as a scientist is the growing public health threat of antibiotic resistance and the increasingly limited treatment options for patients with persistent, recurrent infections,鈥� Bleick said. 鈥淚 am particularly interested in how novel antimicrobial agents interact with existing antibiotics and behave during active infection.鈥�
Bleick鈥檚 work centers on understanding how bacteria adapt during treatment and how combining antibiotics with emerging therapies鈥攕uch as antimicrobial peptides, bacteriophages, and natural products derived from the environment and the human body鈥攃an improve infection control and reduce resistance.
A central focus of her laboratory is the study of bacteriophages, which are bacterial viruses that naturally infect and destroy specific bacteria. Bleick and her team have collected phages from soil and water sources across Rhode Island and the greater New England region, working to identify strains that effectively target MRSA. The goal is to develop a customized 鈥淩hody Phage Cocktail,鈥� a carefully selected combination of phages paired with antibiotics to enhance treatment effectiveness and durability.
鈥淚 am driven by the question of why today鈥檚 treatments often fail to clear drug-resistant infections and what we can do to make them work better,鈥� Bleick said. 鈥淎lthough phages are increasingly used in compassionate-use cases, there is still limited guidance on how to optimally combine them with antibiotics. By studying the dynamics of these therapies, we aim to generate data that enable more effective treatment strategies with improved success rates, reduced resistance, fewer side effects, and less infection recurrence.鈥�
Bleick has been building this research program for five years, beginning as a Doctor of Pharmacy student at 溏心vlog免费B站 and continuing through her postdoctoral training before launching her independent lab. Today, her research team includes undergraduate and graduate students who help design experiments and analyze data.
鈥淭raining the next generation of scientists while advancing solutions to urgent public health threats is one of the most meaningful and motivating parts of this work for me,鈥� Bleick said.