Antimicrobial resistance presents a major threat to society. This is because with microbes becoming increasingly resistant to drugs, the ability to prevent or cure disease in humans, animals and plants is threatened.
Responding to this challenge, national and international governments and health agencies, are taking greater action to combat AMR. This includes the AMAST Network project which will receive approximately £650,000 over four years from UK Research and Innovation funding as part of its work to tackle infections.
Conducting this work, the Network will bring together various agrifood communities from various primary production and consumer systems, such as crop, livestock and aquaculture. It will also involve transdisciplinary academics, including bioscientists, social scientists, as well as other areas that may not have previously engaged with AMR as a challenge, such as the arts and engineering. The RVC will contribute its expertise in veterinary public health, food safety and food systems analysis.
Members’ perspectives on the key threats of AMR will then be gathered through interviews, workshops and themed community meetings to collectively identify and prioritise areas of opportunity, as well as understanding where more research is needed to address knowledge gaps.
Co-ordinated by Dr Matthew Gilmour, based at the Quadram Institute, and supported and partly managed by the RVC, the AMAST Network is also led by Newcastle University, University of Stirling, Royal Holloway University of London, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Royal Agricultural University, Scotland’s Rural College, University of Bristol, University of Leicester and University of Southampton.
Dr Matthew Gilmour, Group Leader at Quadram Instiute and Co-ordinator of AMAST Network, said:
"We’re really excited to be part of this new community. The agrifood system is incredibly complex with a diverse community of key players that are involved in the production of safe and nutritious foods. So, understanding the challenges of AMR requires a non-traditional approach."Dr Lucy Brunton, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Veterinary Epidemiology at the RVC and RVC lead for the AMAST Network, said:
"This is a really exciting initiative. The collective strength of experience and expertise among the transdisciplinary community that we are building will help us to more fully understand the challenges and opportunities to control antimicrobial resistance in agrifood compartments, such as in farming and livestock environments.
"I am delighted to help lead this network in meaningful engagement between research, industry and policy to understand the challenges of antimicrobial resistance in our agri-food systems."
Additional partners in the AMAST Network include, ADAS, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), The Environmental Research Institute (University of Highlands and Islands), the FAI Farms, Fera Science, the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA), Menter a Busnes, NHS Highlands, Ricardo, UK Agri-Tech Centre and Vet Sustain.
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For more information about AMAST Network, visit: www.AMAST.org.uk
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