Biography
Biography: Frank Scholle
Abstract
Survival of pathogens on high-touch surfaces in particular, presents a significant problem in disease transmission via fomites. Despite advances made over the years to develop antimicrobial agents and materials, there is a significant need for the development of innovative approaches with which to prevent microbial infections. As a multidisciplinary team at North Carolina State University, we have developed two different classes of novel antimicrobial materials. Anionic multiblock polymers work by rapidly dropping the pH <1, causing non-specific damage and rapid inactivation of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria including drug resistant strains, and of a variety of different viruses both enveloped and non-enveloped, including SARS-CoV-2. Anionic polymers that lose their antimicrobial activity over time can be easily recharged via a mild acid wash, restoring their original properties. The second approach focuses on antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI). Photoactive compounds called photosensitizers, are applied via a sprayable and UV crosslinkable formulation to a wide variety of different matrices. Upon exposure to visible light, photosensitizers produce a biocidal form of oxygen, singlet oxygen, that causes non-specific damage to a wide spectrum of pathogens. We demonstrate that the biocidal activity on coated materials lasts over a month after continuos illumination and is able to inactivate notoriously hard to kill pathogens, such as feline calicivirus, a surrogate for norovirus. Major advantages of both of these approaches include the unlikelyhood of development of resistance to the biocidal mechanisms, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and long lasting efficacy to prevent recontamination of surfaces.