Aston Multidisciplinary Research for Antimicrobial Resistance: The AMR4AMR project

抗微生物剂耐药性，即微生物克服我们目前拥有的几乎所有抗微生物剂治疗的能力，已被确定为21世纪世纪面临的主要挑战之一，并且它已成为地球仪的关键问题，包括在发达国家。除非我们加紧研究工作，找到对付这些细菌的新方法，否则不久我们可能会发现自己处于与青霉素开发之前类似的情况，简单的感染会导致致命的后果。生物体耐药性增加的原因是多方面的，因此，需要来自许多不同领域的研究人员共同努力，以找到长期的解决方案;抗菌素耐药性提出了一系列复杂和多方面的问题，范围从学科视野的基础科学研究到个人和社会的行为。虽然跨学科研究跨越了学科之间的传统界限，但在研究领域已经建立了良好的基础，但它尚未以协调一致的方式应用于抗菌素耐药性问题。阿斯顿抗菌素耐药性跨学科研究：AMR 4AMR项目，将产生一个积极和充满活力的研究环境，将汇集来自阿斯顿各地的研究人员，从生物学，物理科学，如物理和化学，药学，工程，数学和统计学等学科，以及其他关键领域，如心理学，药学实践，商业和计算机科学，全面关注抗微生物药物耐药性问题，并找到新的创新解决方案。只有通过使用多种方法的组合，我们才能将抗菌素耐药性景观转化为可管理和可处理的问题。阿斯顿是一所小型而充满活力的大学，AMR 4AMR将使我们能够非常有效地汇集世界领先的研究人员，以确定和开发解决抗菌素耐药性问题的新方法。为了增加实质性的价值，由于大学的规模和组织，我们处于独特的地位，从心理学，药学实践，语言学和我们的商学院的研究输入绘制，我们有一个证明与企业密切合作的能力，所有这些都将通知研究，并帮助将科学转化为可以在真实的世界中有效使用的解决方案。解决抗生素耐药性问题将带来许多好处;它不仅会提高生活质量，在我们的医院和工作场所提供更安全的环境，而且会带来经济利益，因为抗生素耐药性对我们已经紧张的卫生服务的负担减轻了。AMR 4AMR将汇集研究人员，共同研究一系列互补和定制的解决方案，例如更智能和更便宜的方法来快速识别微生物及其耐药性，更好的药物和更智能的方法来提供它们，从植入物（如髋关节置换）到更好的抗菌工作表面的新材料，最适合患者的药物，从儿科到养老金领取者，帮助人们完成药物疗程（不这样做是微生物耐药性的主要原因），以及更好地识别感染来源及其传播方式的方法。从长远来看，这项研究将导致“精确医学”的目标，在分子水平上确定疾病的原因，并使用有针对性的综合疗法来解决特定的疾病过程。通过创造一个积极支持这种跨学科方法的环境，新的和创新的科学和工程以及更好的实践将得到发展，并将为确保我们领先超级细菌一步提供基础。

Antimicrobial resistance, the ability of microorganisms to overcome almost all of the antimicrobial treatments that we currently have, has been identified as one of the main challenges facing the 21st century, and it has become a critical problem across the globe, including in the developed world. Unless we step up our research efforts and find new approaches to deal with these bugs, it might not be long before we will find ourselves in a situation similar to times before the development of the penicillins, where simple infections turn out to have deadly consequences. The reasons for the increasing resistance of organisms is many fold, and it is, therefore, going to take a concerted effort of researchers from many different areas to find long-term solutions; antimicrobial resistance presents a spectrum of complex and multifaceted questions, ranging in scope from fundamental scientific research at the horizons of disciplines through to the behaviour of individuals and society. While working across the conventional boundaries between the disciplines, interdisciplinary research, has become well established in the research world, it has not yet been applied in a concerted fashion to the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Aston Interdisciplinary Research for Antimicrobial Resistance: the AMR4AMR project, will generate an active and vibrant research environment that will bring together researchers from across Aston, from disciplines like biology, the physical sciences such as physics and chemistry, pharmacy, engineering, mathematics and statistics, and other key areas like psychology, pharmacy practice, business and computer science, to focus holistically on the problem of antimicrobial drug resistance, and find new and innovative solutions. It is only by using a combination of approaches that we will transform the antimicrobial resistance landscape into a manageable and tractable problem. Aston is a small and dynamic University, and AMR4AMR will enable us to very effectively bring together our world-leading researchers to identify and develop new ways of tackling the problems of antimicrobial resistance. To add substantial value to this, due to the size and organization of the University, we are uniquely placed to draw in research input from psychology, pharmacy practice, linguistics and our Business School, and we have a proven ability to work closely with businesses, all of which will inform the research and help to translate the science into solutions that can be used effectively in the real world. Tackling the problem of antimicrobial resistance will bring many benefits; not only will it improve quality of life and provide safer environments in our hospitals and workplaces, it will bring financial benefits as the burden of antimicrobial resistance on our already strained health service is reduced. AMR4AMR will bring together researchers to work on a range of complementary and tailored solutions, such as smarter and cheaper methods for rapid identification of the microorganisms and their resistance, better drugs and smarter ways to deliver them, new materials for anything from implants, such as hip replacements, to better antimicrobial work-surfaces, medicines that are best suited to the patient, from paediatrics to pensioners, helping people to complete course of drugs (not doing so is a major cause of microbial resistance), and better ways of identifying were infections originate and how they spread. In the longer term this research will lead to the goal of "precision medicine", to identify the causes of disease at the molecular level, and to use targeted, combined therapies to address specific disease processes. Through the generation of an environment that actively supports this interdisciplinary approach, new and innovative science and engineering, and better practices will be developed, and will provide the foundation for ensuring we stay one step ahead of the superbugs.