Dr Dea Nizharadze has been the Chief Medical Officer of the Phage Therapy Center at the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia, since 2010. Leading a medical team that treats patients from more than 80 countries every year, she agreed to look back on her journey, on the trust she has seen built over the years, and on her deep conviction: phage therapy is the medicine of tomorrow.

Thirteen years at the head of the Eliava Phage Therapy Center

“I came to the Phage Therapy Center in 2010. So I have been in charge for thirteen years now. That is when the Center took the form it has today,” explains Dr Nizharadze.

The distinction matters. While the Eliava Institute itself has existed since 1923, the Phage Therapy Center — as a dedicated clinical structure designed to welcome both Georgian and international patients — is a contemporary creation, built and stabilised under her medical leadership. Treatment protocols, coordination with the Institute’s microbiologists, multilingual patient support: this is the clinical architecture put in place from 2010 onwards that today’s patients experience when they travel to Tbilisi.

Trust built on clinical results

She never imagined the clinic would become this widely known. “We quickly earned the trust of our patients,” she adds, plainly.

That reputation was not built on marketing, but on outcomes. “As you know, our clinic has very good results in clinical practice, in treating a range of pathologies — primarily infectious diseases.” A claim regularly supported by recent scientific literature: as recently as 2024, doctors from the Eliava Institute published in the European Respiratory Society Journal the outcomes obtained in patients with chronic respiratory infections that had failed antibiotic therapy — results that extend and validate the clinical experience accumulated under Dr Nizharadze’s direction.

“The future belongs to phages”: why this conviction

Dr Nizharadze’s conclusion is unambiguous: “I think our clinic will keep growing in the future, because the future belongs to phages. I am convinced that this is a medicine of the future, one that will soon convince the rest of the world. The whole medical team and I are very optimistic about it.”

That conviction, grounded in daily clinical practice, echoes a now widely accepted concern at the highest levels of public health. According to the World Health Organization, bacterial resistance to antibiotics was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019; projections published in The Lancet in 2024 estimate up to 39 million deaths between 2025 and 2050 if nothing changes. Against this backdrop, phage therapy is no longer a historical curiosity: it is one of the few credible alternatives to antibiotics available at scale today.

This is precisely what gives the Georgian model its value. While in Western Europe phage therapy remains accessible only on a case-by-case compassionate-use basis, in Tbilisi it is a legally recognised medical practice fully integrated into conventional medical care — prescribed and administered in regular hospital settings, on the foundation of a century of uninterrupted clinical experience.

A heartfelt thank you to Dr Dea Nizharadze

For the trust, clinical rigour and human care she has given to our patients for more than a decade: thank you. It is this human quality, as much as the effectiveness of the treatment itself, that explains the international word-of-mouth the Center enjoys today.

Would you like to know whether phage therapy could be appropriate for your case? Our team offers a free personalised medical opinion, reviewed directly by the Eliava Center physicians before any travel arrangements. Contact us to start a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Dr Dea Nizharadze?

Dr Dea Nizharadze is the Chief Medical Officer of the Phage Therapy Center at the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has been clinically leading the Center since 2010, overseeing the care of Georgian and international patients with chronic or multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections.

How long has the Eliava Phage Therapy Center existed in its current form?

The Center as it operates today — with its clinical protocols, structured international patient reception and coordination with the Institute’s microbiologists — has been stabilised from 2010 onwards, under the medical leadership of Dr Dea Nizharadze.

Why does Dr Nizharadze believe the future belongs to phages?

Her conviction is grounded in the Center’s daily practice: strong clinical results observed in infectious diseases, including cases where antibiotics had failed. It also aligns with a global health context in which antimicrobial resistance is now recognised by the WHO as one of the top ten threats to humanity.

How can I get medical advice before travelling to Tbilisi?

Our team offers a free medical opinion based on your case file. The Eliava Center physicians assess whether phage therapy is appropriate and, if not, will redirect you towards another therapeutic option.