As of October 2021, there are approximately 20 clinical trials recruiting patients with a phage therapy as intervention, one of which is Phase III. 7 They can also act in a synergistic manner with traditional antimicrobials by targeting bacterial resistance mechanisms from the inside.īacteriophages have already proven their utility in the drug discovery space, through what is known as phage display, 8 and have recently been making a comeback in the therapeutic space. 6 Moreover, personalised phage therapies would have still greater value for their ability to be tailored to each patient. 1-4 Additionally, engineered phages invite an even broader spectrum of applications, with potential for use as a delivery system for engineered proteins 5 and to help modulate the tumour microenvironment for mucosal cancers, such as colorectal cancer. This particular attribute also makes bacteriophages interesting prospects for other applications, such as microbiome regulation, which has been linked to several autoimmune disorders that affect both the gut and the skin. Despite being obscured by the practicality and broad spectrum of antimicrobials in the 1940s, these viruses have a unique characteristic that most antimicrobials lack: the ability to target specific bacteria, thus preserving the native microbiome. Bacteriophages, a group of viruses discovered over 100 years ago, have re-emerged as a subject of interest, drawing significant attention from the biotechnology industry. While pursuing her undergraduate degrees, she worked as a reporter and news producer for a local AM news radio station.Īdmitted to practice in California, New York, and D.C.The menace of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has been growing every year, calling for new approaches to combat the lethal infections they cause. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2004 with a B.A. Townsend is a 2007 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a member of the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. "Rising Star" by The National Law Journal and, that same year, was named part of the “Next Gen - Hollywood's Up-and-Coming Execs 35 and Under” by the Hollywood Reporter. She was recognized in 2015 as a Washington, D.C. In May 2014, Townsend was named a “Rising Star” - one of the nation’s top media and entertainment attorneys under the age of 40 - by Law 360. office of Levine, Sullivan, Koch & Schulz LLP. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Townsend spent a summer in the Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Reporters Committee, she was a litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she specialized in media and entertainment litigation. Townsend joined the Reporters Committee as its first Litigation Director in 2014. In 2020, Townsend led the Reporters Committee’s successful launch of its Local Legal Initiative (LLI) to provide legal support for local investigative and enterprise reporting in Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Anti-SLAPP Act, obtained a first-of-its-kind ruling from an Oklahoma state court making clear that delayed access to public records violates Oklahoma’s Open Records Act, and defeated an agency’s attempt to charge a reporter more than $174,000 to obtain records he had requested under the federal Freedom of Information Act. In 2018 alone, Reporters Committee attorneys secured the dismissal of defamation claims against a journalist under the D.C. Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al., 3 F.4th 350 (D.C.