CAREER: Investigating the role of the aeromicrobiological pathway in the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance

Bacteria can evolve and become resistant to antibiotics that are used to treat infections. Antibiotic resistance is a serious global health challenge and is a factor in millions of deaths each year. The environment plays an important role in how resistant bacteria survive and spread. Scientists have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria can spread in aerosols in air. This CAREER project focuses on how the formation of aerosols influences the transport and spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes. It uses a flow-through chamber to simulate bacterial transport in air and to measure the response of bacteria, including the development of antibiotic resistance, to environmental conditions. The experiments are complemented with field studies and computational models to predict transport, exposure and risk in high-risk areas. The project also provides hands-on research opportunities and international training programs that connect engineering, environmental science, and public health. Project outcomes provide data needed to develop better strategies to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance around the world. The proposed project introduces both technical and conceptual innovations that advance the understanding of airborne antibiotic resistance beyond detection and transport. While aerosols have been increasingly recognized as a pathway for antibiotic resistance dissemination, their role as dynamic environments that shape bacterial adaptation remains largely unexplored. The project deploys a modular, bench-scale aerosol chamber capable of systematically manipulating environmental variables such as humidity, particulate load, and source characteristics, to isolate mechanisms driving resistance dynamics of microbial communities during aerosolization, transport, and deposition. The research distinguishes between physical transport, stress-induced adaptation, and horizontal gene transfer as contributors to resistance spread using culture-based assays, digital PCR for absolute quantification of resistance genes, and metagenomic and transcriptomic sequencing to resolve community composition and functional responses. Iterative coupling of laboratory experiments with field sampling campaigns in built and natural environments enables validation of mechanistic findings under environmentally relevant conditions. Data generated through the project informs ecological and transport-based conceptual models that treat aerosols not only as vectors but also as selective environments capable of shaping bacterial evolution. The resulting framework advances fundamental understanding of aeromicrobiology while establishing a scalable biotechnology platform that integrates engineered aerosol systems with advanced molecular tools to investigate antimicrobial resistance and a broad range of environmentally transmitted pathogens. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2544500 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Olivia Ginn | Institution: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, ATHENS, GA | Award Amount: $698,554 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2544500 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2544500.html