Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance
Basic and clinical research to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of infection.
Research in this theme is focused on improved prevention, detection and treatment of infection. Activities are concentrated on preventing the development of antimicrobial resistance through improved antimicrobial stewardship, improved detection of infection using molecular and sensor based technology, prevention of infection using novel anti-infective biomaterials and enhanced infection prevention and control strategies and improved treatment of infection through discovery of novel antibiotics and antibiotic adjuvants and markers for better evidence-based decisions on antibiotic selection.
Research themes and areas of activity
Respiratory Infectious Diseases
Research activities are focused on the use of (i) enhanced culture techniques, including anaerobic bacterial culture (ii) Non-culture methods (e.g. next-generation sequencing, sensors, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip) to improve lung infection management in cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and COPD (iii) impact of e-cigarette vapour and cigarette smoke on the respiratory microbiome and transcriptome (iv) microbiome of the domestic built environment and its influence on chronic lung disease.
Antimicrobial stewardship
Research activities are focused on (i) clinical and epidemiological studies on antimicrobial resistance (ii) laboratory studies on resistance mechanisms in micro-organisms (iii) promoting effective antimicrobial use to limit resistance.
Novel antimicrobials and anti-infective biomaterials
Research activities are focused on (i) biomaterials to prevent or eradicate bacterial biofilms (ii) discovery of new antibiotics and adjuvants (iii) bacteriophage-derived antimicrobials for biofilm detection and control (iv) cold plasma to enhance antibiotic delivery and efficacy (v) chemical tools to detect resistance and act as resistance breakers (vi) antibacterial and antimicrobial peptide-loaded 3D printed scaffolds (vii) nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for antimicrobials (viii) lab-based models to study device-related infection and trauma.
Discover the School
Explore Pharmacy