Professor Anton Peleg

EXPERTISE

• Infection, Immunity & Pathogenesis
• Mechanisms of Disease caused by Hospital-acquired organisms

Anton Peleg is a clinician-scientist who focuses on the mechanisms of pathogenesis of the most important hospital-acquired superbugs. His team investigates the mechanisms of disease and antimicrobial resistance caused by important hospital-acquired pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.  His group combines state-of-the-art genomic approaches and molecular biology with powerful in vivo infection model systems such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Zebrafish, to understand mechanisms associated with human disease and emergence of antimicrobial resistance. His clinical research is supported by a dedicated microbiology research group specialising in clinical samples for genomic, microbiome and resistance analyses. Anton leads initiatives to develop novel solutions to combat hospital-acquired infections. He has a clinical interest in complex infections in highly vulnerable patient groups. The overarching goal of his research is to identify new targets that may be amenable for future drug development, with a focus on microbial virulence, persistence and adaptation.

Anton is Professor of Infectious Diseases & Microbiology and Director of the Dept. of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital and Monash University, working as an active clinician. He is Head of the Mechanisms of Disease Caused By Hospital-Acquired Pathogens Lab. Anton is a committee member of the Clinical Research Network of the Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases and the Taskforce against Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative Bacteria for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare. Anton has received numerous awards for his research and contributions to Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. He holds numerous external positions including Director Infectious Diseases Clinic, Head of Travel Medicine Clinic (both Alfred Health), and Head of the Victorian NPEP Service.

AMR FOCUS 

• Mechanisms of disease and antimicrobial resistance caused by hospital-acquired pathogens.
• Understanding mechanisms associated with human disease and emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
• Application of genomics to Infectious Diseases.
• Antimicrobial resistance in the Pacific Island countries and territories.

IMPACT

• Novel strategies for therapeutic targeting of AMR pathogens including phage therapy.
• New infection prevention strategies to tackle AMR dissemination.
• Optimized antimicrobial use.