Training Programme to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance

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

The PhD training programme leadership, which comprises 16 academics from 13 universities and research institutes, will bring together PhD students from all academic disciplines to explore new ways of tackling the threat to human life posed by AMR.

Dr Charis Marwick, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Population Health and Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases, is leading the University of Dundee’s contribution to the programme.

“We must address an urgent fight against antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the most serious challenges facing current and future generations. With this programme we are looking to equip the next generation of researchers with the multidisciplinary research skills required to tackle this major health problem,” she said.

The MRF’s Programme will provide four-year PhD funding for 18 students in the first cohort, with the studentships being distributed across the participating 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.

Professor Nicholas Lemoine, the Medical Research Foundation’s Chair, said, “The Medical Research Foundation is delighted to fund the UK’s only national PhD Training Programme in antimicrobial resistance research. We believe the programme will help to respond to the global health challenge that is antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance and drug resistant infections and strengthen the UK’s research capacity overall.”