Tag: Antibiotic Resistance

Winners of Hacking AMR 2019

Anders BjersNews and press, VRI

The grand prize in the Hacking AMR 2019 event that was arranged in Stockholm, Sweden, 13-15 December was won by team ‘Mission Prescription’. The winning project presented an idea to support doctors in their prescribing behaviours by providing them with a tool to monitor their own prescribing in relation to the rest of the medical community. This type of intervention has the goal to reduce incorrect use of antibiotics.

The members in team ‘Mission Prescription’ were, from back row, left to right, in picture above: David Barber, Family Physician and researcher, Queen’s University, Canada; Lennard Epping, PhD student, Robert Koch Institute, Germany; David Hinrichs, Data scientist, Robert Koch Institute, Germany; Sabrina Wong, Health researcher and nurse, Canada; Vendela Wiener, Public Health Agency of Sweden; Sumeet Tiwari, PhD student, Robert Koch Institute, Germany. Missing in picture is Ewan Gray, Researcher, University of Edinburgh, UK.

The People’s choice award and Honourable Mention went to team ‘The Waiting Game’ who developed the concept for a game that can be played while a patient is in a doctor’s waiting room. The goal of the game is to educate the patient on AMR, limiting requests for unnecessary antibiotics.

The aim of the Hacking AMR 2019 hackathon was to bring together scientists, designers, patients, developers, innovators, students and entrepreneurs to collaborate, dream up & create solutions to real-world problems to improve human, animal and environmental health and wellbeing with regards to Antimicrobial Resistance. During the hackathon 40 participants formed seven different teams and worked on diverse digital solutions to AMR.

Royalty free photos by Eva Garmendia.

Hacking AMR 2019 is a Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance – Virtual Research Institute (JPIAMR-VRI) activity organised by the Swedish Research Council, Institute of Infection and Immunity (III) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Research Council of Norway, Uppsala Antibiotic Center (UAC), and the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Medical School. Hacking Health Foundation were consultants for Hacking AMR 2019.

Showreel about the workshop

Design contest for first global Antibiotic Resistance Symbol

Anders BjersNews and press

A design contest to find the first global Antibiotic Resistance symbol has been launched today by the European Union Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections (EU-JAMRAI). The contest is not about creating another logo, it should be something tangible that can be crafted by anyone and worn by everyone; like the AIDS ribbon. Be a changemaker and take part in the contest or encourage the public to participate!

Read more on the contest at the EU-JAMRAI website (link, opens in a new window)

Read the EU-JAMRAI press release (pdf, opens in a new window)

JPIAMR Highlighted in G20 Health Ministers Joint Declaration

Anders BjersNews and press

The 2018 G20 Health Ministerial Meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, concluded on October 4th with a joint declaration on concrete health policy proposals.

The document considers health a key aspect for sustainable development and calls for a further strengthening health systems. It also recommends concrete actions to address global issues such as antimicrobial resistance, and with commitments for “increasing the level of awareness on the prudent and responsible use and disposal of antibiotics of all healthcare providers, veterinarians, farmers and food producers and of the general public.”

In the declaration, the G20 also mentions JPIAMR together with GARDP, UNITAD, CARB-X and the TB-Alliance, welcoming the work of these leading international initiatives.

Please view the full declaration here.

Coming Soon: Call on Diagnostics and Surveillance

Anders BjersNews and press

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become one of the major global health and development challenges of the 21st century. The threat of AMR is particularly high in resource-limited and high-risk settings. This is linked to weak human and animal health systems; diverse means of food production, processing and consumption; food safety and food security; water, hygiene and sanitation challenges; and the global movement of people and goods.

In response to these challenges, the JPIAMR will launch a joint transnational call for proposals for innovative research projects on new or improved diagnostics and surveillance strategies, tools, technologies and methods. These research projects should address diagnosis of AMR infections in clinical and veterinary settings, or the emergence, surveillance, and/or detection of AMR in humans, animals and the environment. This Call will support research projects that also have the potential for impact in areas where the risk and burden of AMR is greatest, e.g. in LMIC settings in Asia and Africa. Projects are encouraged to use a One Health approach where relevant. The projected call budget is approx. 20 million Euro.

Scope of the call

Projects should aim to either:

  1. Develop strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and/or surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.
  2. Study ways to facilitate and implement the uptake and use of existing strategies, tools, technologies, and/or methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.
Eligibility

List of participating countries is provisional.
Consortia of eligible scientists from participating JPIAMR member countries and eligible countries in Africa and Asia may apply to this call. Full eligibility criteria will be included in the Call launch. Participating JPIAMR member countries include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and  Sweden. Consortia must include a minimum of three and a maximum of six project partners from at least three eligible countries.

The Netherlands has the intention of joining the call but no funding is guaranteed yet. Updates on the progress will be shared.

Expected timeline
  • November 2018 – Pre-announcement of the call
  • December 2018 – Publication of the call
  • February 2019 – Submission deadline for pre-proposal
  • April 2019 – Full proposal invitations sent to project coordinators
  • June 2019 – Submission deadline for full proposals
  • October/November – Final funding decision announced
  • December 2019/ Early 2020 – Project start

Download as pdf

Fourth JPIAMR Network Call Workshop – report and interviews

Anders BjersNews and press

In March researchers gathered in Frankfurt am Main in a final workshop, Maximising Existing and Future Research Efforts and Resource Alignment to Combat AMR, to share some of their activities and findings from research that was supported by funding within the JPIAMR call for networks. Here we present the full workshop report and filmed interviews with some of the funded networks.

The fourth JPIAMR call for networks closed on June 6, 2016. Participating countries in the network call were JPIAMR members: France, Canada, Belgium Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The coordinators from the countries participating in the call created networks of researchers from many different countries and fields of research.

Major Conclusions

  • The Network funding mechanism facilitated the formation of successful networks in all strategic JPIAMR areas.
  • JPIAMR Network funding allowed Networks to carry out a broad range of activities with different outcomes, including white papers/position papers, conferences/workshops, systematic reviews, Standard Operating Procedures, online courses, guidance documents and journal articles, amongst others.

JPIAMR has the One Health approach as an integral part of the Strategic Research Agenda. This is one of the key strengths of JPIAMR and it is reflected in the diversity of the network topics.

The full workshop report can be downloaded here.

About the participating networks

The assembled networks had emphasis on needs at a National and International level to address AMR, within these areas:

  • Guidelines on use (Human & Veterinary) – Affordable stewardship
  • Surveillance in primary care
  • New anti-infective/ New adjuvant therapies / Alternative approaches
  • Evaluation of risk for generation of resistance in human setting
  • Rapid diagnostic tests
  • Role of environmental factors
  • Infrastructures/Biobanks available relevant to infection and AMR

The networks spanned all of the JPIAMR pillars and were mostly multidisciplinary (spanning at least two pillars). A range of sizes of the networks were represented at the workshop.

Interviews with coordinators of some funded JPIAMR Networks

Research Network: Flies (Diptera: Muscidae) and the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria

Research Network: INFACT – AMR and Intensive Care Units

Research Network: Rapid Diagnostics

Research Network: AMR Stewardship in Hospitals – What Works?

Pre-announcement of 6th Call – New Targets, Compounds and Tools

Anders BjersNews and press

We are pleased to pre-announce the 6th Joint Call for transnational research projects “New Targets, Compounds and Tools”. To date fifteen countries are participating with a total budget of approximately 13 million Euros. The launch of the 6th Call will be in January, 2018.

This year the WHO published the Global priority pathogen list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to guide research, discovery, and development of new antibiotics (PPL). The 6th joint call for proposals addresses this list, with the aim to discover new targets, compounds, or new tools with the potential to help controlling infections by drug-resistant bacteria identified by the WHO as priority pathogens (including multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Projects considered for funding will involve fundamental and/or translational One Health research, with the exception of clinical trials.

Participating countries and eligibility

Consortia of eligible scientists from Belgium (FWO), Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Spain (MINECO/ ISCIII), Sweden and Switzerland may apply for funding in this call.* Consortia must include a minimum of three eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call, and a maximum of 6 project partners (or 7 if a partner from Czech Republic, Latvia or Poland is included).

* List is provisional – additional countries may join. Final eligibility conditions will be published when call opens.

Read more about the 6th Call on the page about the call.

Download: PRESS RELEASE JPIAMR 6th Joint Call

Contacts

For inquiries about the pre-announcement of the 6th Joint Call, please contact:

Martine Batoux, ANR.

E-mail: Martine.BATOUX@agencerecherche.fr

www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr

For general media inquiries, please contact:

Anders Bjers, Communications Officer JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 068

E-mail: anders.bjers@vr.se 

Press release: Statement for the Call to Action on AMR in Berlin, October 12-13 2017

Anders BjersNews and press

At the Call to Action in Berlin on October 12-13, the JPIAMR will commit to several new initiatives and actions for 2018.

  1. Research is a crucial tool to address AMR, therefore, we commit to launch three joint research calls with a preliminary budget of 15M€. We will focus our efforts on projects to identify new targets addressing the WHO pathogens priority list, Surveillance, and we will build on our recent success and support Research Networks across international borders.
  2. Resistant bacteria do not respect any international borders and as globalisation and AMR increases we firmly believe international research efforts across borders should also. In response to this growing challenge the JPIAMR will launch a ground breaking AMR Virtual Research Institute. A dynamic network of AMR research facilities and groups to provide a global platform for scientific collaboration and build research capacity.
  3. AMR is a complex challenge and as our understanding grows, we need to be adaptive and responsive. As a result, the JPIAMR commit to increasing activities to prioritise research within the Strategic Research Agenda. JPIAMR is also committing to do several mappings of AMR research funding and update the existing data. Together with creating a database of AMR research projects. Also, to map AMR research centres and research infrastructures. We are aiming to have all this information available in a database in 2018/19.

“This Call to Action needs to truly embrace the complexity and challenge of AMR. We need to work together on the many dimensions of AMR simultaneously. That is why JPIAMR is one of the key organisations to support and become a member of, in order to harness antimicrobial resistance in time, for mankind”, says Dr. Carlos Segovia, Chairman JPIAMR.

“The impact of JPIAMR since its inception is fundamental. I see the Virtual Research Institute as another stellar creation facilitated by JPIAMR and the dynamic research context is unique for the work to harness AMR.”, says Dr. Marc Ouellette, Member of the Board JPIAMR.

The JPIAMR calls on all Nation States to join the organisation. We also ask existing Member States to build on the progress made and continue to invest in high quality research, across international borders with the One Health multidimensional approach. Together – we create progress.

Download: PRESS RELEASE JPIAMR Statement A Call To Action Berlin 13 October 2017.

JPIAMR: Facts and Contacts
Since 2013, the JPIAMR, Joint Project Initiative on AMR, has funded more than 45 research projects and/or networks with more than 300 partners, across multiple countries and disciplines. JPIAMR has coordinated investments of €60m to advance knowledge in areas such as: Discovery of new therapies, transmission dynamics of AMR in humans, animals and the environment, new surveillance methods and interventions to reduce the impact of AMR. JPIAMR is gaining momentum as a global co-ordinating capacity and leading research organisation on AMR.

With four new Member States joining since September 2016 alone, JPIAMR clearly creates substantial values for its members and researchers alike. To date, 26 Nations are full members and the organisation is growing, adding new member continuously to the now global organisation.

For inquiries at the Call to Action in Berlin, October 12-13. Please contact:

Laura Marin, General Manager JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 119

E-mail: laura.marin@vr.se

For other press inquiries, please contact:

Anders Bjers, Communications Officer JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 068

E-mail: anders.bjers@vr.se