University of Bristol to lead national PhD training programme to tackle antimicrobial resistance

In response to the
urgent and global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Medical
Research Foundation (MRF), the charitable foundation of the Medical Research
Council, has invested £2.85M in delivering the UK’s first nationwide PhD
training programme to focus on this major health challenge.

The PhD training
programme leadership comprises 16 academics from 13 universities and research
institutes. The University of Bristol, known for its pioneering
multidisciplinary research into AMR, will lead delivery of the programme, which
will bring together PhD students from all academic disciplines to explore new
ways of tackling the threat to human life posed by AMR.

The MRF’s Programme
will provide 4-year PhD funding for 18 students in the first cohort, with the
studentships being distributed across a wide range of participating UK
universities. In addition, training courses and cohort building/networking
events will be funded to benefit up to 200 PhD students studying AMR-related
problems from across the UK.

Dr Matthew Avison,
Reader in Molecular Bacteriology at the University of Bristol and Principal
Investigator and Academic Lead for the MRF’s national PhD training programme,
said:

“Today we rely
heavily on antibiotics, particularly for the treatment of life-threatening
infections, however, overuse and misuse has led to antibiotics rapidly becoming
ineffective. Antimicrobial resistance, specifically antibiotic resistance, is
now a major global threat to human health. Urgent action is needed to halt the
rise of resistance and to speed up the development of new treatments, if we are
to avoid the end of the antibiotic age.

“The fight against
antimicrobial resistance is serious, life-threatening and global – it is a
fight we must win. I look forward to working with an incredible group of
research leaders from universities and research institutes across the UK. The
programme will train the next generation of researchers to develop the
multidisciplinary research skills that are required to tackle this major health
problem.”

The Programme has
been developed in response to a gap in funding for PhD studentships in this
field of research – currently there are few emerging researchers trained in the
multidisciplinary approach required to tackle the AMR problem. The Programme is
designed to help build a strong, active network of new researchers to approach
this global challenge in innovative ways.

The MRF’s Chair,
Professor Nicholas Lemoine, said:

“The Medical Research Foundation is delighted
to be funding the UK’s only national PhD Training Programme in antimicrobial
resistance research. We believe this will help to strengthen the UK’s
research capacity to respond to the global health challenge of antimicrobial
resistance, including antibiotic resistance and drug-resistant infections.”

The MRF is
continuing to seek funds from its supporters and other sources to fund two
further cohorts of PhD students in antimicrobial resistance in the future.