Sha Liu

Sha Liu

Adelaide Medical School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Irrational (misuse and overuse) use of available antibiotics in human and animals have accelerated the development of drug resistance and diseases once curable with antibiotics are no longer curable. To make it worse, the limited research investment of big pharma companies in the development of new and effective antibiotics has left us with very limited options to treat rapidly evolving drug-resistant infections/bacteria.

As the emergence of resistance is a ‘dynamic’ problem, it cannot be completely controlled by a ‘static’ solution like an antibiotic. One alternative solution was ‘phage’ - a virus that infects and kills specific bacteria in its natural form.

Looking back at history, phage was used to treat bacterial infections before the advent of antibiotics but research on phage lost interest after the discovery of penicillin. The emergence of ‘superbugs’ and the reluctance of pharma companies in developing new drugs for infectious diseases has renewed our interest in phage

This project focuses on the preclinical and clinical development of phage therapy to fight against bacterial infections, especially for those highly resistant strains.

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2022 Liu, S., Hon, K., Bouras, G. S., Psaltis, A. J., Shearwin, K., Wormald, P. J., & Vreugde, S. (2022). APTC-C-SA01: A Novel Bacteriophage Cocktail Targeting Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA Biofilms. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(11), 18 pages.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2022 Huang, S., Hon, K., Bennett, C., Hu, H., Menberu, M., Wormald, P. J., . . . Liu, S. (2022). Corynebacterium accolens inhibits Staphylococcus aureus induced mucosal barrier disruption. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13, 11 pages.
    DOI
    2022 Hon, K., Liu, S., Cooksley, C., Vreugde, S., & Psaltis, A. J. (2022). Low pH nasal rinse solution enhances mupirocin antimicrobial efficacy. Rhinology, 60(3), 218-228.
    DOI
    2022 Hu, H., Liu, S., Hon, K., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P. J., & Vreugde, S. (2022). Staphylococcal protein A modulates inflammation by inducing interferon signaling in human nasal epithelial cells. Inflammation Research, 1-12.
    DOI
    2022 Hon, K., Liu, S., Camens, S., Bouras, G. S., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P. J., & Vreugde, S. (2022). APTC-EC-2A: A Lytic Phage Targeting Multidrug Resistant E. coli Planktonic Cells and Biofilms. Microorganisms, 10(1), 18 pages.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2022 Hon, K., Liu, S., Cooksley, C., Vreugde, S., & Psaltis, A. J. (2022). Low pH nasal rinse solution enhances mupirocin antimicrobial efficacy. RHINOLOGY, 60(3), 218-228.
    DOI
    2021 Wong, M. L., Arcos-Burgos, M., Liu, S., Licinio, A. W., Yu, C., Chin, E. W. M., . . . Licinio, J. (2021). Rare functional variants associated with antidepressant remission in Mexican-Americans: short title: antidepressant remission and pharmacogenetics in Mexican-Americans. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 491-500.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2021 Menberu, M. A., Hayes, A. J., Liu, S., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P. -J., & Vreugde, S. (2021). Tween 80 and its derivative oleic acid promote the growth of Corynebacterium accolens and inhibit Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol, 11(4), 810-813.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC2
    2021 Menberu, M. A., Liu, S., Cooksley, C., Hayes, A. J., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P. -J., & Vreugde, S. (2021). Corynebacterium accolens Has Antimicrobial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Pathogens Isolated from the Sinonasal Niche of Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients. Pathogens, 10(2), 1-19.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS11 Europe PMC6
    2021 Liu, S., Zhao, Y., Hayes, A., Hon, K., Zhang, G., Bennett, C., . . . Vreugde, S. (2021). Overcoming bacteriophage insensitivity in Staphylococcus aureus using clindamycin and azithromycinat sub-inhibitory concentrations. Allergy, 76(11), 3446-3458.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC2
    2021 Ramezanpour, M., Ogi, K., Liu, S., Tuli, J. F., Bennett, C., Masanobu, S., . . . Vreugde, S. (2021). Der p 1 disrupts the epithelial barrier and induces IL-6 production in patients with house dust mite allergic rhinitis. Frontiers in Allergy, 2, 1-9.
    DOI Europe PMC1
    2021 Sabab, A., Liu, S., Javadiyan, S., McAdam, C. J., Hanton, L. R., Jukes, A., . . . Wormald, P. -J. (2021). The effect of chemical and structural modifiers on the haemostatic process and cytotoxicity of the beta-chitin patch. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1-15.
    DOI Scopus1
    2021 Camens, S., Hon, K., Liu, S., Bouras, G. S., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P., & Vreugde, S. (2021). Preclinical Development of a Bacteriophage Cocktail for Treating Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections. Microorganisms, 9(9), 2001-1-2001-16.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC6
    2021 Huang, S., Ding, P., Liu, S., Li, C., Zhang, Y., Dong, D., & Zhao, Y. (2021). ISMN-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles conjugated with anti-Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin inhibit Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in chronic rhinosinusitis. Future Medicinal Chemistry, 13(23), 2033-2046.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
    2021 Ogi, K., Liu, S., Ramezanpour, M., Cooksley, C., Javadiyan, S., Fujieda, S., . . . Psaltis, A. J. (2021). Trimellitic anhydride facilitates transepithelial permeability disrupting tight junctions in sinonasal epithelial cells. Toxicology Letters, 353, 27-33.
    DOI
    2020 Ramezanpour, M., Hu, H., Lau, A., Liu, S., De Silva, A., Bolt, H., . . . Vreugde, S. (2020). Increased serum IgG4 associates with asthma and tissue eosinophilia in chronic rhinosinusitis patients. Pathogens, 9(10), 1-6.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2019 Hu, H., Ramezanpour, M., Hayes, A. J., Liu, S., Psaltis, A. J., Wormald, P., & Vreugde, S. (2019). Sub-Inhibitory Clindamycin and Azithromycin reduce S. aureus Exoprotein Induced Toxicity, Inflammation, Barrier Disruption and Invasion.. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(10), 16 pages.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS10 Europe PMC8
    2019 Lin, J., Zhang, Y., Xiong, L., Liu, S., Gong, C., & Dai, J. (2019). High-flow nasal cannula therapy for children with bronchiolitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 104(6), 564-576.
    DOI
    2017 Wong, M., Arcos-Burgos, M., Liu, S., Vélez, J., Yu, C., Baune, B., . . . Licinio, J. (2017). The PHF21B gene is associated with major depression and modulates the stress response. Molecular Psychiatry, 22(7), 1015-1025.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS39 Europe PMC21

  • Conference Items
    Year Citation
    2017 Licinio, J., Arcos-Burgos, M., Liu, S., Velez, J., Baune, B., Jawahar, C., . . . Wong, M. -L. (2017). Major Depression is Associated With Rare Variants in the PHF21B Gene, a Modulator of the Stress Response in Rodents. Poster session presented at the meeting of NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY. Palm Springs, CA: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP.

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2021 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Development of a bacteriophage cocktail for diabetic foot ulcers University of Adelaide - Honours Full Time Shenoi Goonetilleke
    2020 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Preclinical development of a P. aeruginosa phage cocktail for use to treat infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria University of Adelaide - Honours Full Time Sophie Camens
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