Phages for Global Health is a non-profit organization that facilitates the application of phages to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Africa and Asia, where 90% of the deaths from AMR are expected to occur. Our projects are accomplished through partnerships with >60 collaborators from over 20 countries. The four main pillars of our work include:

(1) Capacity Building

We have delivered 5 workshops for scientists from East Africa, West Africa and Southeast Asia, teaching phage isolation and characterization and how phages might be utilized in people, animals, crops and aquaculture.

(2) Product Development Projects

We have brought together international, multidisciplinary teams to develop:

-  Campylobacter phages for poultry meat decontamination (Kenya)

-  Vibrio phages for preventing transmission of cholera between family members (Democratic Republic of Congo and Bangladesh)

-  Mycobacterium ulcerans phages for treating Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical skin disease (Benin)

-  Salmonella innolysins (country TBD)

(3) Advocating for the Establishment of National Phage Banks

We are bringing together global phage experts to draft guidelines on how phage banks might be managed so as to facilitate sharing of phages across international borders. The long-term intention is to have guidelines that scientists in Africa and Asia may utilize as they establish phage banks in their countries.

(4) Regulatory

As part of a Fulbright Global Scholar project during 2023-2024, Tobi will meet with national leaders in Kenya, Uganda and Malaysia to discuss how phage-based drugs are being regulated elsewhere and brainstorm about how phages might be regulated in those 3 countries.