{"id":13272,"date":"2026-01-06T12:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13272"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:34:26","slug":"uw-milwaukee-professor-is-fighting-superbugs-in-milwaukee-and-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-milwaukee-professor-is-fighting-superbugs-in-milwaukee-and-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Milwaukee professor is fighting superbugs in Milwaukee and around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Troy Skwor, associate professor of biomedical sciences, works with undergraduate researcher Yara Haddad in his lab. The research aims to pinpoint antibiotic-resistant genes in drug-resistant bacteria. (UWM Photo\/Andy Manis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whether he\u2019s studying drug-resistant bacteria in his Milwaukee lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee or educating children in developing countries, Troy Skwor\u2019s work reflects his deep commitment to public health. For him, research is more than just discovery \u2014 it\u2019s about making a difference in people\u2019s lives. But he doesn\u2019t lack a scientist\u2019s curiosity toward the microbes themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so fascinating to learn how pathogens are evolving and who is outsmarting who,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both his research and his humanitarian work have led Skwor across the globe and deep into the microbial world, studying everything from malaria and tuberculosis to\u00a0Chlamydia trachomatis<\/em>, the bacterium that causes trachoma \u2014\u202fa painful eye infection that impacts 100 million people worldwide and can cause blindness.<\/p>\n

A simple invitation<\/h3>\n

His path to becoming a global health researcher began right here in Wisconsin. A first-generation college student from Milwaukee, Skwor was studying at UW-Madison when a mentor nudged him toward research. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for that person telling me, \u2018You should try this,\u2019 I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now an associate professor of biomedical sciences and the director of the\u00a0Antibiotic Resistance and Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0at UWM, he\u2019s paying that forward. He loves spotting students with untapped potential and opening doors to research careers they hadn\u2019t imagined for themselves.<\/p>\n

Antibiotics of light<\/h3>\n

Skwor\u2019s own career transformed after a chance visit to UWM years ago. While in town visiting family, he stopped by campus and crossed paths with biomedical sciences professor Janis Eells. The conversation turned into a collaboration, and together they published work showing that light-based therapies called phototherapies could kill Chlamydia without drug-based antibiotics.<\/p>\n

That project was the beginning of a new line of research for Skwor. After teaching at Rockford University, he returned to Milwaukee, this time as a professor, to focus more heavily on research. He now leads a research program with big implications for local communities and global health.<\/p>\n

In one federally funded collaboration, he\u2019s working to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria using advanced light therapies. \u201cThis project is really exciting because it has the chance to save the lives of some of our wounded military if it works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Superbugs around the world<\/h3>\n

Even during the COVID shutdown, Skwor kept going. With his in-person lab closed, he and his research students led a global data review of antimicrobial resistance in Aeromonas bacteria, analyzing 15,000 strains from across the world. The study revealed how gaps in infrastructure, especially the absence of wastewater treatment and clean water, fuel the rise of superbugs.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, his lab monitors antimicrobial resistance at Milwaukee\u2019s beaches and in its waterways. A recent study from Skwor\u2019s team found that drug-resistant bacteria from treated wastewater closely resemble those found at local beaches and in hospital patients \u2014 raising concerns that environmental exposure could contribute to the spread of infections. His team and collaborators recently earned a multimillion-dollar EPA grant to expand on this work and investigate how wastewater treatment can reduce antimicrobial resistance.<\/p>\n

In another project, his group is looking at what happens when treated wastewater returns to rivers emptying into Lake Michigan as part of Waukesha\u2019s new drinking water diversion. And in a USDA-funded project, he and collaborators with the\u00a0lab of Qingsu Cheng<\/a>, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UWM, are exploring whether photodynamic disinfection could make treated wastewater safe enough to irrigate crops.<\/p>\n

Underlying all of his work, in the lab and beyond, is his passion for human health. He\u2019s worked with commercial sex workers in Ecuador to better understand recurrent chlamydial infections and developed diagnostic tests for Chlamydia in Thailand. He\u2019s volunteered in St. Lucia, South Africa and Uganda, educating youth and providing basic necessities. He even ran a marathon to raise funds for World Vision\u2019s clean water mission. Across all these efforts, Skwor is helping advance solutions to some of the world\u2019s most urgent health threats.<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Anna Funk<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-professor-is-fighting-superbugs-in-milwaukee-and-around-the-world\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether he\u2019s studying drug-resistant bacteria in his Milwaukee lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee or educating children in developing countries, Troy Skwor\u2019s work reflects his deep commitment to public health. For him, research is more than just discovery \u2014 it\u2019s about making a difference in people\u2019s lives. But he doesn\u2019t lack a scientist\u2019s curiosity toward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[107],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-13272","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-milwaukee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13272"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}