17th JPIAMR transnational call for research projects - AMR Interventions 2024 (IMPACT)

General Information

• Type: Partner looking for project
• Organisation: Moldova State University
• Country: Moldova (MD)
• Career stage: Early Career Researcher (up to 8 years** since PhD).

Research area

• Scientific area(s) of the call:
  1. Topic 2: Improve and/or, compare and/or evaluate strategies, technologies, treatments, methods, protocols or data collection based on existing interventions, aiming to prevent or reduce the emergence or spread of antibacterial or antifungal resistance or to treat/cure infections caused by resistant bacteria/fungi and recommend new policies.
• Subtopics:
  1. Improve and/or compare and/ or evaluate the effectiveness of existing interventions (e.g. cost effectiveness clinical utility, socio-economic adaptability, reducing AMR emergence, spread, transmission, treatment etc.)
  2. Identify the barriers to uptake, including factors leading to the success or failure of previously run pilot interventions, and when applicable design solutions to overcome them.

• One Health Setting:

  Human Health

  Animal Health (incl. wildlife, livestock, acquatic organisms, and companion animals)
  Plants (incl. trees and crops)
  Environment (incl. natural and built)

• Keywords:

  1. Correlation between optical trapping of pathogens; 2. Manipulation of pathogens in the evanescent zone; 3. Inactivation of pathogens using the rotation channels in metamaterials; 4. Decontamination equipment; 5. Optical equipment for diagnostic of pathogens (viruses bacteria fungi).

• Brief description of your expertise / expertise you are looking for:

  Biophysics and bio photonics of radiation interactions with pathogen biomolecules. Quantum processes and effects obtained and described in the interaction of radiation with matter. Development of models used in the interaction of radiation with pathogens (DNA, RNA, proteins, etc.). Construction of decontamination equipment which contains the metamaterials penetrated by UV C radiation.

• Brief description of your project / the project you would like to join:

  Our proposal involves a novel approach to fluid decontamination, targeting infected fluid. We aim to achieve this by employing a combination of repacking methods involving both large and small elements within a metamaterial. This strategy is formulated to generate rotational pathways for pathogens (virus, bacteria, fungi) that enhance the movement of them in regions with elevated ultraviolet C radiation (250-270 nm wavelength) of evanescent zone of metamaterial composite. Through the utilization of two key mechanisms, repacking of metamaterial elements, and centrifugal manipulation of pathogens, we plan to create an efficient decontamination equipments for fluid decontamination. In this procedure, we optimize the contact area by repacking a foundational structure made up of transparent spheres with smaller ones. Concurrently, we obtain helical channels resembling those found in centrifuges to manipulate pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and infected droplets within regions exposed to heightened ultraviolet C radiation. Our research reveals that as we reduce the size of the repacked components within the transparent metamaterial, the centrifugal force acting upon them intensifies. This effect directs pathogens toward the evanescent region of the metamaterial, where the concentration of ultraviolet C radiation is elevated.

Enaki Nicolaie

• Organisation: Moldova State University
• Position: Professor
• E-mail: enakinicolae@yahoo.com
• Phone: +373 22 73 80 92
• Web: ifa.md/en/divisions/locpc