Dear All,
As recently highlighted in the 2019 reports from the World Bank (Pulling Together to Beat Superbugs, link) and the UN Inter-Agency Coordination Group (No Time to Wait: Securing the Future from Drug-Resistant Infections, link), many countries are not able to implement the AMR-focused National Action Plans called for by the WHO in 2015 (link).
To address this gap, the Danish government, with support from the World Bank, has created ICARS, the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (https://www.icars-global.org/). This project fits well with prior Danish efforts: Denmark has a long history of working both on “One Health” strategies and on AMR projects in LMICs (Low-to-Middle-Income Countries).
The core goal of ICARS is to partner with LMICs to (i) conduct intervention and implementation research and (ii) provide support in translating policies into practice. To achieve these goals, ICARS will engage with local, national, and global stakeholders to create evidence-based approaches to implementing national action plans.
ICARS is expanding and has recently posted positions based both in Copenhagen and globally.
Could one of these be for you? Deadline for most of the positions is 21 June 2020. See below the signature for a quick survey and go here for more details: https://www.icars-global.org/contact.
All best wishes, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.
Currently advertised roles at ICARS
Senior Implementation Research Advisor: will lead the strategic development for intervention and implementation research in close collaboration with the Scientific Director, develop and oversees study designs for intervention and implementation research, work closely with the science and policy teams to evaluate the progress of the projects, identify opportunities to successfully deliver on the objectives and represent ICARS at national and international meetings with multiple stakeholders. Requires: MD, PhD in public or veterinary medicine, or with equivalent experience and a minimum of 10 years of applied research experience and experience from working with or in LMICs. Full or part time – based in Copenhagen, Denmark, or other locations.The deadline for this application is 21 June 2020.
Antimicrobial Resistance Advisor: works in the development of ICARS’ portfolio of demonstration projects with LMICs, undertakes due diligence and evaluation of projects, identifies key risks to the projects and strategies for de-risking, assimilates data into reports for ICARS and assists in the production of independent evidence synthesis, assessments and reports within the AMR area. Requires: MD, PhD or MSc in public or veterinary medicine, or with equivalent experience, and with a minimum of 3-5 years of applied research experience in AMR. Full time – Based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The deadline for this application is 21 June 2020.
Implementation Research Advisor: will work with other members of the team to support the Senior Implementation Research Advisor in the development and delivery of projects in partnership with LMICs, oversee study designs, data collection analysis and reporting, support project development with partner countries and work closely with the science and policy teams to evaluate the progress of the projects and identify opportunities to successfully deliver on the objectives. Requires: MD, PhD in public or veterinary medicine, or with equivalent experience and a minimum of 3-5 years of applied research experience and experience from working with or in LMICs. Full time – based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The deadline for this application is 21 June 2020.
Communications Officer: responsible for setting up and executing ICARS’ communication strategy, developing ICARS’ advocacy to wider audiences and stakeholders and strengthen ICARS’ visibility on web and social media platforms. Requires: a master’s degree in communications and more than 5 years of relevant work experience, preferably from a science and health research communications-based position. Full time – based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The deadline for this application is 21 June 2020.
Student assistant: As our new student assistant, you will gain a unique insight in an organization handling intervention and implementation research on a global level. The position is part-time (approximately 15 hours per week) and will be available from 01/07/2020. You need to be enrolled as an active university student preferably in your master’s degree within Veterinary Medicine, Medicine, Public Health or similar. The deadline for this application is 14 June 2020.
Current funding opportunities:
- Novo REPAIR Impact Fund is open for global applications through 21 Jul 2020. Go here for current details.
- 2020 funding rounds for CARB-X have not been announced.
- The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes funders and projects by geography, stage, and more.
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:
- 16 Jun 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Bringing new treatments for drug-resistant infections to all who need them.” Speakers: Seamus O’Brien, Francois Francheschi, Sally Ellis. Go here register.
- 25 Jun 2020 (online, 14:00-15:00 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Putting children first in the fight against antibiotic resistance.” Speakers: Manica Balasegaram, Hanan Balkhy, Stafan Peterson. Go here register.
- 30 Jun 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Clinical development of antimicrobials – Phase 1 development challenges.” Speaker: Markus Zeitlinger. Go here to register.
- 9 Jul 2020 (online, 09:00-10:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “The challenges and opportunities for antimicrobial R&D in low- and middle-income countries – India case study.” Speaker: Anand Anandkumar and Kamini Walla. Go here to register.
- 17 Jul-2 Aug 2020 (Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA): Residential course entitled “Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis.” This 2-week intensive training program has run annually for many years and gets outstanding reviews. Go here for details.
- 29 Jul-2 Aug 2020 (Philadelphia, PA): Small World Initiative Instructor Training Workshop – training for undergraduate professors and high school teachers in wet lab techniques, parallel curricula, pedagogical instruction to engage students in the hunt to find new antibiotics in soil. Go here to register.
- 4 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Development Considerations of Antifungal Drugs to Address Unmet Medical Need.” Go here to register.
- 5 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Developing Antifungal Drugs for the Treatment of Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) Infection.” Go here to register.
- September 2020. University of Sheffield (UK). Applications are being taken for a new 1-year (full-time) or 2-year (part-time) Masters of Science course in Antimicrobial Resistance. The program runs annually from September and covers microbiology, clinical practice and policy. The course webpage is here.
- 9-10 Sep 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
- 26-29 Oct 2020 (Rotterdam), Annual ESPID meeting (European Society for Pediatric ID, #38)
- 10-13 Apr 2021 (Vienna): Annual ECCMID meeting (#31)
- 20-24 June 2021 (Toronto): International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD-12). Go here for details.
- 3-7 Jun 2021 (Anaheim), ASM Microbe 2021. Go here for details.
- 8-11 Oct 2021 (Aberdeen, Scotland): 10th Trends in Medical Mycology. Go here for details.
- 16-24 Oct 2021 (Annecy, France): Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe). This is a soup-to-nuts residential course on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic R&D. The course is very intense, very detailed, and gets rave reviews. Registration is here and is limited to 40 students.
- 18-21 May 2021 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Biannual meeting of the MSGERC (Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium). Save-the-date announcement is here, details to follow.
