Student Presenter(s): Sahejdeep Chohan, Moshe Kabariti, Siem Satti, Srikrishna Prasad
Faculty Mentor: Bryan Gibb
Department: Biological and Chemical Sciences
School/College: College of Arts and Sciences, Long Island

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium commonly found in normal human flora, often on the skin and on the anterior nares in the nasal cavity. When infecting humans, it can cause a wide array of clinical manifestations, and it is an extremely common cause of skin infections. Antibiotic-resistant forms of S. aureus, such as MRSA, VISA, and VRSA pose a growing public health threat as they are more difficult to treat. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria, and they have been used to treat bacterial infections. Each phage targets specific bacteria, and there are estimated to be more than 10^31 phages on the planet. Furthermore, phages can adapt to overcome bacterial resistance, so they maintain a constant arms race with the bacteria. A common area where S. aureus resides is fitness centers which have physical activity, contact, and transfer of microbiota. Gyms present an ideal environment for drug-resistant strains to spread throughout the community. One study found that 36.3% of S. aureus samples isolated from a fitness center were multidrug-resistant. The purpose of our work is to find and isolate S. aureus phages found in the environment of a community fitness center. After isolation, these phage samples will be characterized and evaluated for their therapeutic potential in treating S. aureus infections.