This article has been revised and corrected from the original version.

The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in West Carson has snagged a major federal grant to study the causes of antibiotic-resistant infections. The institute announced last month that one of its principal investigators, Michael Yeaman, was awarded an $11.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

The grant is for work to decode patterns of the human immune system and microbial pathogens that result in infections that are not cleared by antibiotics. The hope is that this research will lead to new ways to predict individuals at risk of such persistent infections and then explore the best antibiotic regimens for cures.

The grant will allow the team to continue its research into this burgeoning field of bioscience research known as epigenomics. The team will explore patterns in how DNA is modified beyond sequence in ways that impact immune response and the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments. 

“We will use state-of-the-art technologies in synergistic research to understand human-pathogen interactions driving persistence,” Yeaman said in the announcement. 

Yeaman has developed an extensive career at the Lundquist Institute; research projects for which he has been the principal investigator have racked up a total of $30 million in grants over the past seven years.

The Lundquist Institute has received roughly $494 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health during its 70-plus-year history. The institute has over 100 principal investigators now working on more than 600 research studies.