Purdue researcher selected for Wellcome Leap program to develop targeted antibiotic delivery platform
09-08-2026
A Purdue University-led international research team has been selected to participate in Wellcome Leap’s $50 million Focused Antibiotics program. The project is led by Raluca Ostafe, associate research professor in Purdue’s Department of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with co-principal investigator Danilo F. González-Nilo of Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile.
The project aims to develop an orally administered, nanocarrier-based drug delivery platform that concentrates antibiotic activity at sites of infection while minimizing exposure of the gut microbiome.
Antibiotics remain essential for treating bacterial infections, but exposure throughout the body can disrupt beneficial gut microbes and contribute to antimicrobial resistance. The Purdue-led project seeks to address this challenge by engineering nanoscale carriers that can deliver existing antibiotics more selectively to environments associated with infection.
“Our goal is not to discover a new antibiotic, but to change where and how existing antibiotics act in the body,” Ostafe said. “If we can deliver antibiotic activity more selectively to infected tissue while reducing exposure to the gut microbiome, we may be able to preserve efficacy while limiting beneficial bacterial disruption and avoiding the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
As part of the Wellcome Leap Focused Antibiotics program, the team will advance the platform through formulation development, biological testing and milestone-driven evaluation.
“This is an exciting opportunity to build a new translational platform at the interface of microbiology, nanotechnology and drug delivery,” Ostafe said. “The program is highly aligned with our broader goal of developing technologies that make treatment more precise and effective.”
The project also aligns with Purdue One Health by advancing a translational approach to antimicrobial resistance, a challenge that connects human, animal and environmental health.
About the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University
The Department of Biological Sciences is the largest life sciences department at Purdue University. As part of Purdue One Health, we are dedicated to pioneering scientific discoveries and transformative education at the cutting edge of innovation. From molecules to cells, from tissues to organisms, from populations to ecosystems- we bring together multiple perspectives, integrating across biological scales to advance our understanding of life and tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Learn more at bio.purdue.edu.
Written by: Alisha Willett, Senior Communications Specialist, amwillet@purdue.edu and Raluca Ostafe, rostafe@purdue.edu