“His work is quite brilliant.”
That is the glowing verdict of La Trobe Rural Health School Professor Joe Tucci on Dr Mwila Kabwe, whose research program may one day help treat cancers, diabetes and periodontitis.
Dr Kabwe’s research focuses on bacteriophages, viruses that attack and kill bacteria without infecting humans.
He explains he was looking to discover their potential to manipulate diseased collections of microbes – known as microbiomes – back into a state of health.
“My research helps us understand how microbiomes function in the maintenance of a healthy state or the development of disease,” Dr Kabwe said.
“The discovery of bacteriophages and their application have the potential to impact the treatment paradigm of some difficult-to-treat conditions.”
Discovered in 1915, bacteriophages remain relatively poorly understood compared to antibiotics.
Dr Kabwe’s research is preliminary but has already broken new ground – including the isolation of bacteriophages so unique a new genus had to be classified and named.
His discovery of a bacteriophage which targets a bacteria known as Fusobacterium nucleatum, a periodontal pathogen linked to a number of diseases, was named ‘Latrobevirus’ by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.
Dr Kabwe carried out his PhD, entitled Bacteriophages, more than just alternatives to antibiotics, with the help of a La Trobe University Postgraduate Research scholarship.
Professor Tucci supervised him and credits Dr Kabwe as being the first to suggest using bacteriophages to help treat cancers.
“He’s a shining light among successful recent graduates of the La Trobe Rural Health School,” Professor Tucci said.
Now working as a Postdoctoral Research Officer for the Rural Health School’s Department of Clinical Sciences, Dr Kabwe hopes his research can be built upon.
“I would like to see a wider collection of bacteriophages established and to expand on the diseases which previously could not benefit from antibiotic therapy,” he said.
“Collections of bacteriophages across Australia and internationally have the potential to shift microbiome manipulations for health outcomes.”
This piece was written by Jol Attwooll (Senior Engagement and Communications Coordinator, La Trobe Rural Health School)
