Fighting anti-microbial resistance

International experts are gathered in Edinburgh this week to develop new ways to combat drug-resistant infections.

The conference comes as a new report warns of a global epidemic of disease resistant to all drugs currently available.

By 2050, the annual global death total of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) infections could reach 10 million people.

It is also estimated that AMR could cost the global economy $100 trillion in lost output by 2050 - more than the size of the current world economy.

The Edinburgh event will allow specialists from India, the UK and USA to collaborate on new ways of diagnosing AMR infections.

Video

In this short film, Dr Till Bachmann of the University's Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine explains the aims of the conference.

Innovation in diagnostics to tackle AMR needs the brightest minds. We have therefore created an international competition on antimicrobial diagnostics called AMR DxC to connect and inspire the next generation of researchers. We are absolutely delighted to see so much talent and expertise gathered in Edinburgh to discuss and debate new ideas at the Autumn School. We look ahead to an exciting year seeing the launch of the AMR DxC competition.

Autumn School

Edinburgh's Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine are running an Autumn School for 20 PhD students from British and Indian universities.

The AMR Autumn School runs from 16-20 November.

The aim of the initiative is to promote interdisciplinary thinking and international collaboration for AMR diagnostics and allow students to interact with some of the world’s leading AMR experts.

Students will have the chance to attend a high profile series of seminars and discuss themes around AMR, diagnostics, innovation, interdisciplinary thinking and international collaboration.

Events

'The relevance of Host-Pathogen interactions in the context of antibiotic use and AMR' takes place on Wednesday, 18 November at Queen's Medical Research Institute from 4 pm to 6 pm. The event is organised by Edinburgh’s AMR Forum.

'Challenges of AMR and Opportunities in Diagnostics' takes place on Thursday, 19 November at Edinburgh College of Art from 2 pm to 4.30 pm. The event is organised by the Medical School’s Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine.

Edinburgh Infectious Diseases Winter Lecture - Meeting the Challenges of Antimicrobial Resistance, takes place at 5.30 pm on Thursday, 19 November in the Playfair Library. The event is organised by Edinburgh Infectious Diseases.

Blog

Marie Ducrotoy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine is updating on the Autumn School events throughout the week on the University’s India blog. #AMRDxC