Ana C. Almeida Santos, a researcher at the BacT_drugs Lab of UCIBIO - Porto, has been selected as one of the two recipients of the Antibiotics 2026 Travel Award, granted by the Antibiotics journal (MDPI). She conducts her work under the supervision of Ana R. Freitas, Carla Novais, and Luísa Peixe at the BacT_drugs Lab, Department of Biological Sciences (Microbiology), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto.
This 500 CHF award distinguishes early-career researchers with outstanding scientific merit and strong future potential. Ana was selected based on her academic achievements and research contributions, as evaluated by the journal’s editorial board. Her submitted study, “Emergence of optrA-mediated linezolid-resistance in human clinical Enterococcus faecalis: an alert for a shifting resistance landscape in hospitals”, marks an important milestone in Portugal’s antimicrobial resistance landscape. The work reports, for the first time in the country, a human clinical isolate of Enterococcus faecalis carrying the optrA gene, which confers transferable resistance to linezolid, a last-resort antibiotic used to treat severe infections.
Until now, linezolid resistance in Portugal had been mainly associated with chromosomal mutations. The detection of a transferable resistance gene in a human clinical infection signals a significant shift in the resistance mechanisms circulating in hospitals. Moreover, optrA-mediated resistance had previously been identified only in livestock or healthy carriers, highlighting the possibility of transmission across environments, including the food chain, and warning of a concerning rise in this type of resistance.
The Antibiotics Travel Award aims to support promising young scientists by facilitating their participation in international conferences, fostering the exchange of knowledge, and promoting high-quality research in the fields of antimicrobial agents and antimicrobial resistance.
This support will enable Ana to attend the prestigious ESCMID Global, where she will present her latest research findings and engage with the international antimicrobial research community.
This recognition highlights the scientific excellence within UCIBIO and reaffirms the institution’s commitment to advancing Microbiology and Antimicrobial Resistance research.