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4. Daniel Pletzer

Dr Daniel Pletzer

Research interests:

Infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, host-pathogen interaction, microbial pathogens, nanomedicines

Current research:

Our research is focused on recalcitrant ESKAPE (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) pathogens; especially hard-to-treat clinical isolates involved in multidrug resistance, biofilm infections and persistence. We are especially interested in bacteria that have been categorized as "critical" priority pathogens by the World Health Organization. This includes multidrug resistant organisms that cause severe and often deadly infections and therefore pose an enormous threat in hospitals.

To address this issue, our research focuses on fighting infectious diseases and tackling antimicrobial resistance using innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. 

Our lab seeks to  1) understand how microbes cause disease, 2) fight antimicrobial resistance with novel nanomedicines, and 3) develop new antimicrobial strategies. 

 For more information click here:

Pletzer Lab 2023

Postdoctoral Fellows and Staff

Dr. Sam Wardell		Dr. Ian Liddle (Co-supervised) A/Prof Allan Gamble		Dr. Anupriya Gupta		Dr. Shilpa Nair (Co-supervised) Dr Fellner
Postdoctoral Fellow		Postdoctoral Fellow		Postdoctoral Fellow		Assistant Research Fellow

Postgraduate students

PhD students

Saffron Whitta		Maddie Hardie Boys		Rory Smith		Tasbiha Gul

Robiul Shanto		Prasanga Madhushani		Kathy Sircombe  (Co-supervised) Prof Hook, A/P Gamble		Simon Su (Co-supervised) Prof Hook, A/P Gamble

Meera Kabiraz		Haziq Azlan  (Co-supervised) Dr Fellner		You Xiangyan (Co-supervised) Dr Fellner		Prodip Baral (Co-supervised) Prof Das

MSc students

	Adrian Smith-Beech  (Co-supervised) Dr Fellner

4th Year students

Mark Lemzin-Abdrashitov BSc(Hons)		Janaya Stevenson BSc(Hons)

Recent graduates: 

PhD students:

- Dr. Deborah Yung (PhD Microbiology); 2024

- Dr. Catherine Ross (PhD Pharmacy; co-supervised - PI: Prof. Hook); 2023
- Dr. Minati Choudhury (PhD Dentistry; co-supervised - PI: Prof. Tompkins); 2023 - (Current location: International Medical University Malaysia)

MSc students:

- Alana Hampson (MSc Microbiology); 2023

4th Year students:

- Maddie Hardie Boys; BBiomedSc(Hons); 2023
- Rory Smith; BMedSc(Hons) Medicine; 2023
- Stella Zhang; PGDip Microbiology; 2023
- Meg Vallabh; BBiomedSc(Hons); 2023

- Shuying Wee; BBiomedSc(Hons); 2022
- Jess Henricks; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2022
- Tiu Cullen; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2022
- Bianca Tawatao; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2022

- Claude Vincent; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2021
- Finn Dusterwald; DipSci Genetics; 2021

- Deborah Yung; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2020
- Alana Hampson; BSc(Hons) Microbiology; 2020
- Sophie Qiu; BBiomedSc(Hons); 2020

Postgraduate opportunities: 

Did you just finish your BSc degree and are you interested in a Honours or Masters project? We always have a lot of ongoing exciting projects - just reach out to hear more about what is available: daniel.pletzer@otago.ac.nz or contact members of the lab. 

Interested in a PhD? Candidates with a BSc(Hons) or MSc degree are highly encouraged to apply if their research interest and experience matches any of the following themes: Microbiology, Immunology, Biochemistry, Genetics, or Bioinformatics. 

All PhD candidates must be eligible for admission to the University of Otago and apply for a PhD scholarship (https://www.otago.ac.nz/graduate-research/scholarships/index.html). The scholarship is available to both domestic and international students. International students should have a look at the International Office (https://www.otago.ac.nz/international/index.html) for entry requirements and contact the lab beforehand.

If you are interested in joining our lab, please send a cover letter including current research interests, a CV including all published work, a summary of previous research (if applicable), full academic transcripts, and contact information for two-three references.

Scholarly netwoking websites:

Publications:

A few relevant publications are listed below 
(for a full publication list, please visit our profile on PubMed or our website):

Targeting the Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factor phospholipase C with engineered liposomes.

Wolfmeier H, Wardell SJT, Liu LT, Falsafi R, Draeger A, Babiychuk EB, Pletzer D, Hancock REW

Front Microbiol. 10.3389/fmicb.2022.867449

Self-assembly of antimicrobial peptoids impacts their biological effects on ESKAPE bacterial pathogens.

Nielsen J*, Alford MA*, Yung DBY*, Molchanova N, Fortkort J, Lin J, Diamond G, Hancock REW, Jenssen H, Pletzer D, Lund R, Barron A.

ACS Infect Dis. 10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00536

Ultraviolet-C irradiation, heat, and storage as potential methods of inactivating SARS-CoV-2 and bacterial pathogens on filtering facepiece respirators.

Harfoot R, Yung DBY, Anderson WA, Wild CEK, Coetzee N, Hernández LC, Lawley B, Pletzer D, Derraik JGB, Anderson YC, Quiñones-Mateu ME.

Pathogens. 10.3390/pathogens11010083

Friends or enemies? The complicated relationship between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.

Yung DBY, Sircombe KJ, Pletzer D.

Mol Microbiol. 10.1111/mmi.14699

Synergy between conventional antibiotics and antibiofilm peptides in a murine, sub-cutaneous abscess model caused by recalcitrant ESKAPE pathogens.

Pletzer D, Mansour SC, Hancock REW. 

PLoS Pathog. 14(6):e1007084 

*authors contributed equally as first author; italic = corresponding author; underline = lab members