Kenneth Urish, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, School of Medicine, and of bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, will present the next lecture from the group of 2024 Ascending Star Award winners. The award recognizes highly productive and creative mid-career faculty members in the health sciences.
The most common major surgical procedure in the United States is joint replacement. Infection is the most severe complication and largest reason for failure of these operations. Infection is a devastating diagnosis, often requiring multiple surgical procedures over several years, with a mortality rate higher than that of most cancers.
The difficulty in eradicating these infections results from biofilm formation and associated high tolerance to antibiotics.
The Urish lab has focused on understanding the mechanism behind biofilm antibiotic tolerance and applying this understanding to current treatments for infection. This mechanistic understanding has informed clinical study design or resulted in an investigational new drug-enabling technology for three separate therapies now in Food and Drug Administration Phase I, II and III studies.
Urish’s work has resulted in a new class of antibiotics (PLG0206), antibiotic delivery systems and bacteriophage therapy. These treatments can be applied across surgical and medical device infections.
In addition to his research, Urish has an active surgical practice in hip and knee replacement and complex revision surgery.
Location and Address
Alan Magee Scaife Hall, room 3785
A reception with light refreshments will follow the lecture.