Anthony William Maresso, Ph.D.

Anthony Maresso, Ph.D., is the Joseph Melnick Endowed Chair of Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He is an expert in the fields of bacterial pathogenesis, vaccinology, organotypic culture biology and phage biology. His professional interests center on investigating the pathogenesis of bacterial infections with the ultimate goal of improving current treatments and creating novel therapeutic interventions. The theme of his research is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria, including pathobionts of the microbiome, undermine human health, as well as to use the directed evolution of phage and bacterial genetics to determine the functions of unclassified or understudied genes.

Dr. Maresso is the faculty founder of TAILΦR (Tailored Antimicrobials and Innovative Laboratories for Phage Research), a groundbreaking Baylor initiative. Founded in 2019, TAILΦR seeks to empower clinicians with capable antibacterials to treat the most vulnerable patients and provide a sustainable solution to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

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About PHIOGEN INC.

The Science: The development of bacteriophage products to combat life-threatening and multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections: 

• Phage cocktails attack multi-drug resistant bacteria (including antibiotic-resistant bacteria) through multiple mechanisms and can evolve to anticipate resistance. 
• Built on over 10 years of research from TAILΦR and Dr. Anthony Maresso Labs, the formation of PHIOGEN was completed in January 2023. Baylor has committed $1.5 million in funding to support operationalizing this candidate company, including recruitment of company leadership. 
• PHIOGEN developed the world’s first high-throughput phage technology platform that discovers novel phages and trains them to overcome resistance, resulting in next-generation, high-performing antibacterial products. 
• The team consists of the world-renowned scientists and clinicians who have streamlined their phage development program in which phages have been used to successfully treat over 25 Food and Drug Administration-approved emergency use cases in patients with critical and life-threatening antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. 

Social Proof: Out of 670 companies and 45 finalists, PHIOGEN has been selected as the most diverse and inclusive company to attend the 16th annual SXSW Pitch 2024 competition, presented by KPMG. It was quite the honor and we brought home a trophy and $1,000 check. We are very proud of the recognition and it reflects in our dynamic team. Read the news blurb here. The competition was fierce but we are happy to report PHIOGEN outcompeted ALL 45 finalists in 9 categories for our diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) efforts.

Announcing the Winners of 2024 SXSW Pitch Competition

Our dynamic team, founders, and advisors are represented with half including the CEO being female, 3 members of our team being green card holders and 2 who are first generation immigrants. We have several ethnicities represented in our company such as Indian, African American, Portuguese, Korean, Hispanic, and Moroccan. In addition, our lead indication affects primarily women and is an unmet need in women’s health, a historically overlooked and underfunded area of research and medicine.

We are honored to be recognized as the most diverse and inclusive team from the nation’s most diverse city! Click here to learn more about SXSW Pitch.

STAT Madness: Baylor’s work on wastewater surveillance research by Drs. Anthony Maresso, Joe Petrosino and other Baylor investigators was voted the top research project in the nation 2024 STAT Madness Competition, a bracket-style tournament to find the best innovation in science and medicine.