£5 million for superbug research

Two teams of researchers have been awarded almost £5 million for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research.

The grant, awarded by the cross research council war cabinet on antimicrobial resistance, will be divided between the University of Warwick and the University of Cambridge over the next 4-5 years. The two projects will involve collaborators from academia, the pharmaceutical industry and charities working to develop new effective antibiotics.

Dr Des Walsh, Head of Infections and Immunity at the Medical Research Council, said: “If AMR is the problem, then research is the answer. It’s only with the best researchers working together on the highest quality research, with the financial muscle to make it all happen, that we will truly make headway in the battle to stop the spread of superbugs. It’s exciting that the UK houses such scientific talent and the skills to bring them all together. Looking at how superbugs affect our lives across the chain, from our farms to our pharmacies, is really important. This needs a cross-academia, cross-industry, and cross-continent approach.”

At the University of Warwick, Professor Chris Dowson and his team have been awarded over £3 million to study peptidoglycan, a component of the bacterial cell. This project will include world-leading scientists in bacterial chemistry, genetics, physics and physiology in the area of peptidoglycan metabolism, structure and architecture.

Professor Dowson said: “Antibiotic resistance needs to be viewed as a long-term problem with no quick fix. It will be with us for many generations to come. To ‘beat the bug’ we need to accelerate discovery activities in partnership with industry. Our multidisciplinary team will develop new insight to key targets to help accelerate this discovery and will provide a platform upon which to train the next generation of researchers.”

With the remainder of the grant, Dr Mark Holmes and his team at the University of Cambridge will investigate the effects of antibiotic use on the entire population of animal gut flora, not only the disease causing bacteria. Their study will focus on the evolution of antibiotic resistance and how to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance on farms.

“The rise of antibiotic resistance is clearly a threat to human and animal health. While increasing agricultural efficiency has delivered ever cheaper food it has also lead to greater levels of infectious disease on farms requiring antibiotic treatment. The use of antibiotics to treat groups of animals inevitably leads to the selection of resistant strains of bacteria on farms. By understanding how antibiotic resistance evolves, we hope to be able to inform smarter use of the drugs and stem, and even reverse, the tide of resistance,” said Dr Holmes.