UF veterinary Ph.D. student wins EPI poster competition
Bottom line
Version 1 — Brief
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Ph.D. student and veterinarian Nimra Khalid took first place in the Emerging Pathogens Institute’s 2026 graduate poster competition, earning recognition for research on a potential antibiotic alternative. According to UF, Khalid’s collaborative study in assistant professor Aria Eshraghi’s lab examined how tolfenpyrad, a widely used pesticide, disrupts bacterial energy production in Francisella novicida, a model organism closely related to the tularemia pathogen F. tularensis. UF said the work points to a possible new antimicrobial mechanism that differs from traditional antibiotic classes. (epi.ufl.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story is less about a campus award and more about the antimicrobial-resistance problem driving the research. Khalid’s work sits squarely in the search for nontraditional therapies that could bypass existing resistance pathways, an issue with clear relevance to both animal and public health. UF’s account also underscores the veterinary pipeline behind that work: Khalid came to the Ph.D. program after practicing in Pakistan and seeing heavy antibiotic use firsthand, then joined a lab focused on microbial virulence and antibiotic alternatives. (epi.ufl.edu)
What to watch: Watch for whether the UF team publishes fuller mechanistic or preclinical data on tolfenpyrad’s antimicrobial activity, including safety, spectrum, and resistance implications. (epi.ufl.edu)
Version 2 — Full analysis
A University of Florida veterinary researcher is getting attention for work that taps into one of the profession’s biggest long-term concerns: antimicrobial resistance. Nimra Khalid, D.V.M., a Ph.D. student in UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine, won first place in the Emerging Pathogens Institute Research Day 2026 graduate poster competition for a study exploring a possible antibiotic alternative that interferes with bacterial energy production. (epi.ufl.edu)
The recognition builds on a research path Khalid began after working as a veterinarian in Pakistan, where, according to UF, she saw extensive antibiotic use and the broader pressure of resistance in practice. She joined the lab of Aria Eshraghi, Ph.D., in 2022, where the focus includes microbial virulence and alternatives to conventional antibiotics. That background helps explain why this poster resonated beyond the usual student-competition context: it connects veterinary training, pathogen biology, and the search for new antimicrobial strategies. (epi.ufl.edu)
The project itself centered on Francisella novicida, a lower-biosafety model closely matched genomically to F. tularensis, the bacterium that causes tularemia. In UF’s summary of the poster, Khalid and collaborators reported that tolfenpyrad strongly inhibited Francisella growth by targeting bacterial energy pathways. A 2025 UF research-day program lists related poster titles from the group, including “Discovery of New Class of Antimicrobials that Blocks Respiration in F. novicida” and a separate project examining tolfenpyrad’s interactions with antibiotics, suggesting the lab is already moving beyond a one-off observation and into mechanism and combination-therapy questions. (epi.ufl.edu)
UF’s report frames the work against a high-consequence pathogen backdrop. Khalid noted that while tularemia is uncommon, F. tularensis is highly pathogenic and requires only a very low infectious dose, making it a significant public health concern. Her comments also emphasized the strategic logic of the project: rather than look for another variation on existing antibiotic classes, the team is studying a compound with a distinct mechanism, which could matter if researchers hope to outmaneuver entrenched resistance patterns. (epi.ufl.edu)
Direct outside commentary on Khalid’s award was limited in publicly available sources, but the broader institutional context is notable. The Eshraghi lab describes its mission as understanding bacterial pathogenesis and virulence mechanisms, and UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute positions Research Day as a major interdisciplinary showcase. In that sense, the award signals internal validation that this line of work is gaining traction within a larger pathogen-research ecosystem, not just inside one veterinary lab. That’s an inference based on the institute’s role and the lab’s focus, rather than a formal external endorsement. (eshraghilab.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this story touches two practical themes. First, it reflects how veterinary researchers are contributing to antimicrobial innovation, especially around alternatives that may reduce reliance on legacy drug classes. Second, it highlights the profession’s growing role in One Health research, where animal medicine, zoonotic disease preparedness, and antimicrobial stewardship intersect. Even though this remains early-stage research and not a clinical product, the underlying question is highly relevant to veterinarians: what new tools might eventually help treat bacterial disease while preserving the usefulness of existing antibiotics? (epi.ufl.edu)
What to watch: The next milestones will likely be publication of peer-reviewed data, clearer safety and translational evidence around tolfenpyrad or related compounds, and follow-up studies on whether this mechanism can be developed into a viable antimicrobial strategy rather than remain a promising poster-stage finding. (epi.ufl.edu)