Marta Carroni awarded grant from VR

Marta Carroni leads her own research group at DBB and also manages the Cellular and Molecular Imaging platform at SciLifeLab, Campus Solna.

For the project “Understanding the tuning of AAA+ bacterial chaperones. Novel targets for new-generation antibiotics.” Marta Carroni has been awarded a Project Grant of 4 320 000 SEK over a 4-year period. The aim is to study how bacterial chaperones are regulated, with the long-term aim of finding new targets for antibiotics.

The project will combine cryo-electron microscopy with biochemistry and protein design to understand how these molecular machines are switched on and off inside the cell. These insights could reveal weak points in how bacteria keep their proteins healthy and guide the development of new antibacterial strategies.

“I’m delighted and grateful for this support from VR. These classes of proteins are my research first love and proteostasis fascinates me. Running my own group alongside the imaging platform at SciLifeLab is demanding but very rewarding, and this grant gives us the means to dig deeper into questions we have been pursuing for years. By understanding how bacteria regulate protein homeostasis, we hope to identify their Achilles’ heel and open new routes towards much-needed antibiotics.”

Focus on molecular chaperones

Her research focuses on molecular chaperones, the proteins that help keep other proteins healthy by refolding them when they are damaged or clearing them away when they cannot be repaired. In bacteria, these chaperones are essential for surviving stress and play a role in how pathogens cause disease and withstand antibiotic treatment.

Full list of awarded grants from VR

To download the full list of awarded grants, please see the Swedish Research Council’s website:

Naturvetenskap och teknikvetenskap (in Swedish)