Current Students and Staff

// University News

3 Nov 2015

Loughborough secures funding to help fight the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance

Researchers in Chemical Engineering have secured £545,000 to help tackle growing resistance to antibiotics.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes (harmful bacteria) develop a defence against the drugs which are designed to kill them.

The majority of the world’s pathogenic bacteria have now developed some level of resistance to antibiotics used to treat them, and medical professionals are therefore using last resort drugs.

Integrated intervention approaches, including developing new treatments, targeted drug delivery, rapid diagnostics, and environmental decontamination strategies, combined with better understanding of the human and social dimensions of the AMR problem are desperately needed.

Loughborough’s interdisciplinary project brings together experts from chemical engineering, sport and health sciences, chemistry, maths, and mechanical and manufacturing engineering. 

The funding will be used to improve the understanding of AMR across the University and beyond, and to identify opportunities and facilitate interdisciplinary research projects to help tackle this global health threat.

Specifically, the Loughborough network will try to understand and explore mitigation strategies that relate to how the environment and human behaviour in community and healthcare settings enables the spread of resistance genes, and the acquisition and transmission of antimicrobial resistant infectious agents.

Scientists will interact with clinical and industry partners through a series of workshops, lectures and networking events to share knowledge and bring together experts to address the AMR challenge.

Read the full release…