Kārlis Rācenis
Kārlis Rācenis, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at Rīgas Stradiņš University (Latvia) specialising in internal medicine, nephrology, and antimicrobial resistance.
He is a pioneer of phage therapy in Latvia and leads a dedicated phage research group focused on personalised treatment strategies for complex, multidrug-resistant infections.
His multidisciplinary team integrates clinical practice with translational research, including phage characterisation and immune response studies. The group has also contributed to projects related to military medicine and combat-associated infections and is involved in efforts to develop the legal framework for phage therapy in Latvia.
Together, they have successfully applied phage therapy in challenging cases, including biofilm- and device-associated infections, advancing clinically relevant phage solutions in the Baltic region.
-
Phage therapy: From last resort to routine medicine
Ever more often, bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites stop responding to the medicines designed to treat them, such as antibiotics. This antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a growing threat, with an estimated 8.22 million deaths globally in 2050. Armed conflicts are escalating the situation: conflicts...