Dear All: See immediately below for a news item just in from Wellcome Trust. Is it the right time for your story? If so, get to it!! Also, please look closely at the General Notes (3 new IMI calls) and the upcoming meetings (3 new meetings, including a microbiome workshop by NIAID). –jr
“This autumn, Wellcome is looking to hear from those who are pioneering new and impactful ways to address antimicrobial resistance. If your work, or the work of a partner, is creating an innovative solution to drug-resistant infections, you could be supported to share your knowledge and experiences at the ‘Call to Action’ event on drug-resistant infections in Ghana.
In 2017 Wellcome created the drug-resistant infections priority area with a view to addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance on global health. As part of our strategy we want to help facilitate better global governance on the issue, and last year organised the first Call to Action conference in Berlin. This event was an opportunity for national governments and multilateral institutions to come together with the civil society, private and philanthropic sectors to focus on the most critical gaps in tackling the development and spread of drug-resistant infections, and to commit to concerted and tangible actions.
On 19-20 Nov 2018, Wellcome will be hosting a second event with the Ghanaian, Thai and UK governments, the World Bank, and the UN Foundation. The Call to Action event is looking to continue the momentum and create even more opportunity for sustained action on drug-resistant infection. As a part of this we want to showcase some of the best work already being undertaken, in order inspire policymakers, those working on the front line, and private sector/civil society.
We have already showcased three pioneering initiatives with projects covering antibiotic stewardship (in South Africa, empowering hospital pharmacists to drive stewardship), surveillance (in Colombia, detecting MDR/XDR in poultry), and education (in Tanzania, changing how antibiotics are dispensed). You can find out more about these here. Suitable projects could cover these topics again, as well as others including improving access to antibiotics, behaviour change, approaches relating to one health or anything helping to deliver key elements of National Action Plans.
If your work is having a pioneering impact on AMR, this is your opportunity to share your experiences with an audience of senior global policy makers and political leaders. The event will be opened by the president of Ghana and attended by government ministers, civil servants, academics and representatives from the private sector and civil society from across the globe.
Up to two representatives from the successful applicants will be flown by Wellcome to Ghana for the event in November and would have an opportunity to present their work and pass on the lessons they have learnt.
The call for proposals ends on 7th September, and the successful applications will be informed in early October.
For more information and to submit your work for consideration, please visit our website. Please do share this open call widely through your networks and with your partners.”
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://13.43.35.2/blog/
General notes of interest for the AMR community
- Novo’s REPAIR Impact fund will re-open for proposals during the window 4 Sep – 11 Oct. Watch for further news here.
- [NEW] IMI AMR Accelerator programme Pillar A within IMI Call 15: Capability-building network to manage the whole accelerator and strengthen AMR science. This is a two-stage call, with letter of intent from applicants expected on 24 Oct 2018.
- [NEW] AMR Accelerator programme Pillar B: Tuberculosis drug development network within IMI Call 15: Tuberculosis drug development network to collaboratively progress TB compounds and validate new tools for TB drug development. This is a two-stage call, with letter of intent from applicants expected on 24 Oct 2018.
- [NEW] IMI Call 16: A series of individual programs where a single EFPIA partner works with a consortium to progress compounds for for TB, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and Gram-negatives. This is a one-stage call, with full proposal from the EFPIA and applicant consortium expected on 24 Oct 2018.
- Ankit Mahadevia (CEO, Spero) was interviewed on 8 Aug by Luke Timmerman on his The Long Run biotech podcast. The hour-long podcastis a good listen that covers career choices, reasons to work on AMR, and other broad perspectives.
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:
- 21-22 Aug 2018 (FDA White Oak Campus, Silver Spring, MD): workshop entitled “Development of Non-Traditional Therapies for Bacterial Infections”. Meeting notice is here.
- 21-22 Aug 2018 (Rockville, MD): NIAID-NINDS-DTRA workshop entitled “Infectious Disease in The CNS and Therapeutic Strategies to Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier”
- 21-23 Aug 2018 (Cardiff, UK): BSAC Standardized Susceptibility Testing Residential Workshop. Register here.
- 26-29 Aug 2018 (Atlanta, GA): CDC’s International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID). Register here.
- [Don’t miss this one!] 4-7 Sep 2018 ESCMID-ASM Conference (#3) on Drug Development for AMR (Lisbon, Portugal). Full program is now posted.
- [NEW] 17 Sep 2018 NIAID workshop entitled “Science and Regulation of Live Microbiome-Based Products Used to Prevent, Treat, or Cure Diseases in Humans.” More details and registration are here.
- 24-28 Sep 2018 (Big Sky, Montana): MSG-ERC (Mycoses Study Group) Biennal meeting
- 3-7 Oct 2018 (San Francisco): ID Week
- 6-14 Oct 2018 International Course on Antibiotics and Resistance(ICARe, Les Pensières, Annecy, France)
- 26 Oct 2018 (London): EMA information day for SMEs: “Regulatory toolbox for medicines and combined devices developers”. Here is the current agenda. Webcast will be available. More details from sme@ema.europa.eu.
- 7-9 Nov 2018 (Seville, Spain): Better Methods for Clinical Studies in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology: A Hands-on Workshop
- [NEW] 29-30 Nov 2018 (Birmingham, UK): BSAC (British Society Antimicrobial Chemotherapy): Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms Workshop for Researchers. Register here.
- [NEW] 21-22 Mar 2019 (Birmingham, UK): BSAC Spring Conference. Register here.
