A University of Edinburgh co-directed research network has received a £650,000 UKRI award to engage with communities and policymakers across the UK to reduce the AMR burden. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced the funding of eight new networks to address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as part of its work to tackle infections.Among these networks is the IMPACT AMR: a Transdisciplinary Network, co-directed by Professor Dominic Moran from the University of Edinburgh and Professor Clare Chandler from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.The eight funded networks will share a £4.8 million award, of which the IMPACT AMR Network will receive £650,000 to engage with communities across the UK and focus on developing feasible, socially acceptable, and cost-effective strategies to reduce the AMR burden.Community workshopsThe AMR Impact Transdisciplinary Network will prioritise interventions across the One Health settings, engaging policy makers and members of the community through consultation workshops to determine the most effective solutions.To achieve set goals, Delphi exercises will be held during workshops. These exercises gather experts to discuss key variables around various interventions, helping to determine their effectiveness and cost.By presenting the best published evidence to a group of experts, the Delphi process aims to narrow down areas of disagreement and prioritise interventions based on their efficacy and cost-effectiveness, co-director Dominic Moran explains.Policy experts will also be part of these workshops to provide insights into the practicality of implementing certain measures, considering technical, cost, behavioural, and political factors.The IMPACT network is currently made up of a team of 20 researchers, but co-directors hope to expand the network to include dozens of other researchers in the AMR community, both nationally and globally.Tackling infectionThis initiative falls under the UK Research Innovation’s Tackling Infections strategic theme, which aims to harness the UK's research capabilities to combat complex, large-scale challenges like AMR.Tackling Infections is one of five themes included in UKRI’s five-year plan, Transforming Tomorrow Together.The funding programme will continue next year with a new opportunity for ambitious new transdisciplinary research projects, drawing on a dedicated budget of at least £7 million to be shared across research networks to tackle infection in the UK. By involving the community and policy experts in a consultative process, we aim to move the science-policy interface forward on AMR, which is currently quite muddled."The network's approach includes evaluating the effectiveness, cost, and political feasibility of various AMR interventions in healthcare, agriculture, and the environment Prof Dominic Moran, Co-director of the IMPACT AMR: a Transdisciplinary Network, University of Edinburgh ** The Roslin Institute receives strategic investment funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and it is part of the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. ** Related linksUKRI NewsUKRI Tackling InfectionImage credit: Jason Goodman, Unsplash Publication date 23 Jul, 2024
