Matthew Griffin, an assistant professor in the University of California, Irvine Department of Chemistry, has received a 2026 Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Award from the University of California Office of the President.  

Established in 2025, the award advances the university’s commitment to supporting the scholarship of early career faculty across the UC system. Each recipient receives a one-time $50,000 allocation to support a proposed research plan and related activities.   

The funding will support research in the Griffin Lab focused on how microorganisms that live in and on the human body, known as our microbiota, build and break down peptidoglycan, a mesh-like polymer that forms an exoskeleton around bacterial cells.  

“Peptidoglycan is a necessity of life for bacteria,” Griffin explained. “Bacteria use peptidoglycan to build their cell wall to protect themselves from the environment, but they also must break down these barriers so cells can expand and divide.” 

This process of construction and degradation occurs in virtually all bacteria, including both beneficial members of the microbiota and the harmful bacteria that cause infections. Common antibiotics such as penicillin and other beta-lactams work by targeting peptidoglycan synthesis. However, Griffin said that approach may no longer be sufficient.  

“These molecules have been cornerstones of modern human medicine, but targeting only the build-up of their cell wall may not be enough anymore,” he said. 

In recent decades, the rise of bacteria resistant to traditional antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents has posed a growing public health threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, resulting in about 35,000 deaths.  

“The current number of infections and deaths is expected to increase over the next few decades as antimicrobial-resistant bacteria continue to develop,” Griffin said. 

With support from the UC Office of the President award, the Griffin lab will investigate how peptidoglycan breakdown can be targeted to combat antimicrobial-resistant infections. 

“We know that targeting peptidoglycan production can prevent bacterial growth,” Griffin said. “However, we know very little about how to target the flip side of this coin—how bacteria degrade their peptidoglycan. With this grant, we will identify the pathways used by pathogens to break down their cell wall, with the hope that these enzyme classes may act as new targets for the next generation of antimicrobial agents.”