GW4 Antimicrobial Resistance Alliance

GW4 AMR Alliance – a One Health AMR research consortium at the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter to tackle the global threat of antimicrobial resistance

“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly serious threat to global public health” – World Health Organisation (WHO)

The aim of the interdisciplinary GW4 AMR Alliance is to become the UK’s leading ‘One Health’ AMR research consortium, recognised globally. We will increase understanding of, and develop and implement effective interventions for, containing and controlling AMR.

OUr ONE HEALTH APPROACH

Society is facing a rise in the number of bacteria and fungi becoming resistant to existing antimicrobials (e.g. antibiotics and antifungals) without a matching increase in new antimicrobials or new treatments. As such, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) one of the greatest emerging threats to human health. The GW4 AMR Alliance aims to tackle this global challenge with an interdisciplinary ‘One Health’ approach and unparalleled expertise.

AMR is a complex problem that affects all of society and is driven by many interconnected factors. Antimicrobial-resistant-microbes are found in people, animals, food, and the environment (in water, soil and air). They can spread between people and animals, including from food of animal origin, and from person to person.

‘One Health’ is a framework to design and implement programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together in an interdisciplinary way to achieve better public health outcomes for humans and animals, particularly by considering the impact of the environment. The approach is widely recognised by national and international agencies, such as the WHO, as the essential approach to address the global challenge of AMR. Therefore, a collaborative, long-term, interdisciplinary, and sustainable research effort taking a global One Health approach is needed to lead the drive to combat AMR at national and global levels.

The mission of the GW4 AMR Alliance is:

To deliver world-leading research addressing key knowledge gaps within specific as well as global settings.
To transform strategies to tackle AMR using cross-institutional, synergistic, interdisciplinary research that maximises engagement, translation and impact.
To cultivate a collaborative, interdisciplinary research and training environment in which the next generation of AMR researchers will flourish.