Funding AMR research: the UK Research Councils John Savill Medical - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Funding AMR research: the UK Research Councils

John Savill

Medical Research Council - UK

• Encourage and support high-quality

research with the aim of improving human health.

• Produce skilled researchers.
• Advance and disseminate knowledge and

technology to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness in the UK and worldwide.

• Promote dialogue with the public about

medical research.

MRC mission

MRC investment in research, 2012/13

MRC research expenditure - €926.2 million in 2012/13

• €414.4m on around 400 programmes in MRC research

units and institutes (inc €9.9m on studentships).

• €404.1m on around 1,400 grants to researchers in

universities, medical schools and research institutes.

• €86.1m on studentships and fellowships in universities,

medical schools and research institutes.

Research Councils NIHR DEFRA

Patients and carers

UK Government Departments OSCHR

Medical charities Parliamentarians Policy-makers Industry International Public Research community Universities NHS Learned societies UK Clinical Research Collaboration

The UK: A rich network of funders and researchers

Technology Strategy Board

AMR research in the UK

• Growing concern of AMR: a political and societal

priority

• The research councils: broad remits; support AMR

across the whole of the research spectrum

Research Councils portfolio: ~€30m per year on AMR

What is needed?

• Collaborative working
• Coordination of key disciplines
• Coordinating research funding – government

and other research funders including industry

• Ensuring integration with human/animal

healthcare UK AMR Funders Forum

AMR Funders Forum (AMRFF)

• Made up of representatives from the research councils,

governmental bodies and charities

• Led and managed by the MRC
• Has a common vision for AMR research and its

implementation

• Will add value to existing programmes
• Will coordinate and/or support the initiation of funding and

delivery programmes

• Will raise the profile of the AMR research base in the UK and

internationally

AMRFF current membership

• The Biotechnology and Biological

Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

• DEFRA, the Veterinary Medicines

Directorate

• The Department of Health
• The Economic and Social

Research Council (ESRC)

• The Engineering and Physical

Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

• The Food Standards Agency
• HSC R&D Division, Public Health

Agency, Northern Ireland

• *The Medical Research Council

(MRC)

• National Institute of Health

Research (NIHR)

• The Natural Environment

Research Council (NERC)

• The Science and Technology

Facilities Research Council (STFC)

• The Technology Strategy Board

(TSB)

• The Wellcome Trust

Research priorities identified

• Understanding resistant bacteria in context: from

genomic, through to cellular and host pathogen interaction

• Accelerating therapeutic and diagnostics development:

development and revisiting of small molecule antibiotics, new non-small molecule based treatments and diagnostics

• Understanding real world interactions: how resistant

bacteria affect their environments and vice versa. New sources

• f antibiotics
• Behaviour and care: behaviour change in human and animal

healthcare settings. New business models needed for antibiotics development

UK spend on AMR (since 2007)

€200m €68.7m €20.6m €20.4m €0.6m €26.6m

Therapeutics Diagnostics Surveillance Transmission Environment Interventions

Total funding: €337m

Underpinning Alternatives Optimisation Lead compounds

The breadth of current research

Major UK investments:

• Understanding bacteria:

Eg: Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection

• Technology to reduce infection:

Eg: Early Warning Sensing Systems i-Sense (EPSRC)

• Links with industry:

Eg: New anti-bacterial to treat MRSA (BBSRC)

• Environment:

Eg: NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology: modelling antibiotics usage

Current joint initiatives

• 4 x UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative

consortia, MRC-led joint initiative

• University of Oxford, Derrick Crook (genomics to detect

transmission)

• Imperial, Jonathan Friedland (Health Care Associated

Infection and AMR)

• University of Cambridge, Sharon Peacock (MRSA

transmission)

• University of London, Tariq Sadiq (Diagnostics and STIs)
• Environmental and Social Ecology of Human Infectious

Diseases (ESEI) MRC-led, as part of LWEC

• novel inter-disciplinary approaches to studying the ecology
• f infectious diseases

Cambridge UKCRC Consortium

Donker, Wallinga and Grundmann, PLoS 2012

UK MRSA investigation network: a case study English referral network :

Case study outcomes

• Whole genome sequencing tools to detect patterns of

MRSA transmission

• Transmission modelling within a hospital and between

hospitals

• UK hospital: Addenbrooke – Cambridge

Netherlands hospital: University Medical hospital – Groningen

• MRSA rate reflects connectivity of the hospital – more

movement and referral between hospitals, less control

• f MRSA
• Hospitals that share >50 patients / year share

homogenous MRSA

Developing international links - highlights

• JPIAMR: MRC lead on behalf of the UK
• Canada: 2 x UK-CIHR Partnership on antimicrobial

resistance consortia

• University of Cardiff (Tim Walsh) and Canada (Gary

Dmitrienko)

• University of Warwick (Chris Dowson) and Canada

(Anthony Clarke)

• BBSRC partner of Global Strategic Alliance for

coordination of research on major infectious diseases of animals and zoonoses

• Currently identifying international opportunities via

RCUK offices in China, India and USA

Providing excellent underpinning resources

• Medical Bioinformatics call

Universities of Warwick and Swansea: The MRC Consortium for Medical Microbial Bioinformatics (wide range of research including AMR surveillance and data sharing)

• The Farr Institute: for health informatics research
• Linking with Industry
• IMI: the MRC represents the UK
• Revisiting old compounds with new science
• TSB/MRC Biomedical Catalyst fund

Eg: The use of light activated antimicrobials to prevent catheter related infection. Ivan Parkin, UCL

• Develop new research opportunities
• Academic/private sector
• International
• Develop new treatments
• Develop new diagnostics
• Develop surveillance systems
• Uptake by human/animal healthcare providers

The next steps