Building the Queen's University of Belfast AMR Network (QUBAN)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming a serious health issue since the number of bacteria which are resistant to existing antibiotics is rising faster than the supply of new antibiotics. This proposal aims to encourage researchers from Engineering and Physical Sciences in QUB to engage with the AMR problem by bringing them into contact with specialist AMR researchers who are primarily located in the Schools of Biology and Medicine, Dentistry & Biomedical Science (MDBS) and are much more familiar with the issues surrounding AMR. They can also provide a clinical perspective. This will form the basis for a new Queen's University Belfast Antimicrobial Network, QUBAN. The network will focus on the Research Councils' Theme: "Accelerating Therapeutic and Diagnostics Development". We have already identified 33 researchers from across six Schools/Centres in QUB who will be obvious members of QUBAN but we anticipate, and will actively promote, further engagement from other researchers within these Schools and from the wider research community in the University. There are exciting possibilities for using our expertise in advanced materials and processing to develop novel approaches to combating AMR through use of microbicides that are not based on small molecule drugs, these range from photogenerated electrons to cold plasmas. Similarly, modifying surfaces can help in preventing infection while sensors can be used to detect infection at the early stages. There is strength-in-depth in all these areas within QUB.

QUBAN is designed to promote interdisciplinary working through a series of activities that will run throughout the 24 month duration of the programme and beyond. Important among these are the Sandpits which are planned in Months 3 and 14. The Month 3 event will be the first major forum where we will bring together interested parties from across the University to develop novel research ideas away from everyday distractions. Funding for Proof-of-Principle studies to take these projects to the level where they will be sufficiently advanced for external grant application funding will be available. This will be complemented by a parallel funding mechanism which will be an open call for smaller grants and will cover anything from buying out laboratory supervision to free up time for writing grant applications through to travel or small items of equipment. Researchers at all levels, including PDRAs and PhD students will be encouraged to become involved in QUBAN. There is a planned seminar programme but we also envisage funding short (three month) discipline-hopping visits to laboratories in other Schools/Faculties by PhD students and "Dragon's Den" competitions for PDRAs.

The programme will be driven forward by the two PIs along with a Technical Management Group who will prioritise applications for funding the Proof-of-Principle proposals arising from Sandpit events and also help to set the scientific direction to the Seminar series, poster sessions and Sandpits. In addition, we will have a high level Steering Committee who will help to set the strategic direction of the Network. This Committee will be Chaired by Prof James McElnay, the University's PVC for Research and have 3 other senior academic members. Prof Rafael Canton (University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Spain) a world leading expert on AMR, Prof Duncan Graham (Director of the Centre for Molecular Nanometrology, Strathclyde) a leading proponent of application of physical sciences to healthcare problems, and Prof Chris Hardacre (Head of School CCE, QUB) who has extensive experience in coordinating multicentre research grants. The Steering Committee will review progress every six months against targets, outputs/pathways to impact, publications and any IPR issues that may arise, ensuring the successful investment and delivery of the BTG award.

This programme is expected to provide significant academic, social and economic impacts since it is aimed directly at increasing the engagement of engineers and physical scientists with the problem of AMR. The impact is expected in the medium to long term since the purpose of the proposal is not to directly fund substantial pieces of research but instead is intended to draw researchers from EPS into the area, which will bring new and very different approaches from those which currently exist. This is in essence a pump-priming exercise in which the EPS researchers can be made aware of the challenges and opportunities that lie in the field of AMR by interacting with colleagues from medicine and life sciences who are all too familiar with the difficulties of overcoming AMR. The programme is aimed at researchers at all career stages from PhD students right through to senior academics and therefore again will have a spread of impacts on those directly engaged, as well as the broader academic community and society.

Academic Impact

The first impact of QUBAN will be the members of the network itself since irrespective of their background they will have a tremendous opportunity to interact with researchers from other disciplines in a supportive environment that will actually incentivise innovative cross-disciplinary thinking and support exploratory studies of new ideas. This is valuable both for younger researchers who are more likely to be willing to work across boundaries but have fewer opportunities and for more established researchers who need a real incentive to move out of their comfort zones and engage with scientists from very different backgrounds. More broadly, QUBAN activities will generate novel research ideas and proposals fully exploiting the potential of multi- and interdisciplinary training, bringing together different biomedical disciplines with engineering and physical scientists. This influx of new ideas should be beneficial for the academics already working in the area who may in turn be prompted to explore new directions and for other researchers in EPS who may see the potential of their own work for addressing some aspects of AMR.

Societal and Economic Impact

The fundamental driving force of the programme is the imperative to address AMR and to find innovative methods to at least reduce if not eliminate its effects. As such there is expected to be a clear societal benefit for any successful research that grows out of the network since that research will be by definition aimed directly at a major societal problem of growing importance. Finding means to reduce the impact of AMR either by developing new microbicides or by finding methods to reduce infection to begin with will have an increasing significance for the health and wellbeing of the nation as the existing antibiotics become increasing ineffective against common infections. Of course the unchecked rise of AMR is expected have major adverse economic consequences for healthcare systems in the UK and worldwide. However, effective measures to reduce the effect of AMR could provide a huge economic opportunity since this is a global healthcare problem and any effective measures would have access to very large international markets.