Below is a selection of highlighted research projects and papers related to the AMR Centre.
Examining the costs and cost-effectiveness of novel TB regimens
LSHTM staff: Anna Vassall, Gabriela Gomez
Funding: TB Alliance
Collaborators: Amsterdam Institute for Global Health & Development
Project duration: 2013 - 2015
Clinical Case Challenge on Diagnostics and AMR
LSHTM staff: Joseph Tucker, Rosanna Peeling, Jack Butterworth, Eneyi Kpokiri
Funding: bioMerieux
Collaborators: University of North Carolina, International Diagnostics Centre, bioMerieux
Project duration: 2018 - 2018
Carriage of antimicrobial resistance genes in children enrolled in the FIEBRE study
LSHTM staff: Felicity Fitzgerald, Rashida Ferrand, Shunmay Yeung, David Mabey, Ioana Olaru
Funding: Academy of Medical Sciences
Project duration: 2017 - 2021
Beyond non-inferiority: a practical trial design for optimising antibiotic treatment duration
LSHTM staff: Matteo Quartagno, James Carpenter
Funding: MRC Hub for Clinical Trial Methodology
Collaborators: CTU
Project duration: 2017 - 2018
Evaluation of the UK AMR Strategy
LSHTM staff: Nicholas Mays, Elizabeth Eastmure, Rebecca Glover, Mustafa Al-haboubi, Elisabeth Holdsworth
Funding: UK Department for Health
Project duration: 2013 - 2018
The economic burden of anti-microbial resistance (AMR): Why it is more serious than current studies suggest
LSHTM staff: Richard Smith
Funding: UK Department for Health
Collaborators: University of Birmingham
Project duration: 2012 - 2012
Estimating the economic burden on the health system and patient of multi-drug resistant TB in South Africa (XTEND sub-study)
LSHTM staff: Anna Vassall, Katherine Fielding, Alison Grant
Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Project duration: 2012 - 2015
Tracking Resistance to Artemisinin Collaboration II (TRAC II)
The second iteration of the TRAC project, known as TRAC II, will not only monitor for the further extension or emergence of drug resistance, but will also investigate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Triple Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (TACTs) – the first of its kind. In areas with failing ACTs, the aim of TACTs is restoring antimalarial efficacy, whereas in areas where ACTs still work or artemisinin resistance has not yet arrived, it has the potential to delay the emergence of drug resistance.
LSHTM staff: Shunmay Yeung
Funding: DFID
Collaborators: Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
Project duration: 2014 - 2019
Treatment of multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumonia infections using bacteriophage capsule depolymerases
This project aims to determine the capacity of depolymerases, directed against capsule polysaccharides of the most frequently encountered Thai isolates of MDR K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii, to resolve experimental systemic infections. Selection of strains for identification, purification and cloning of depolymerases with appropriate substrate specificity and for establishment of models of infection will be guided by a programme of whole-genome sequencing of recent Thai isolates to identify clades of these emergent pathogens relevant to healthcare in Thailand. Candidate enzymes will be filtered by consideration of key pharmacokinetic parameters in infection models. This approach targets both drug resistance and drug-sensitive strains and is believed to have a lower selective pressure and so less likely to generate resistance.
LSHTM staff: Richard Stabler, Nick Thomson
Funding: MRC
Collaborators: UCL
Project Duration: 2016 – 2019
Understanding health system linkages: Formative research to develop strategies to support quality improvement in treatment in the private sector
Through a specific focus on antibiotic treatment and use, this study aims to shed light on the broader processes affecting quality of care in private clinics and drug shops in Uganda. The private sector plays an important role in health care provision in many African countries and cannot be overlooked in strategies to control misuse of antibiotics. Nor can treatment practices and standards be addressed by focusing on one sector in isolation. The private sector interacts with, and is shaped by, the organisation and performance of the public sector, demand from patients and regulatory controls.
LSHTM staff: Sian Clarke, Eleanor Hutchinson, Catherine Goodman, Heidi Hopkins
Funding: DFID/MRC/Wellcome Trust/ESRC
Project Duration: 2017 – 2019