Achievements in 2022

The Centre to Impact AMR continues to deliver impact across many key areas, utilising researchers' unique strengths and perspectives. Learn more about the important work we do by clicking on the story links.

December

The Centre hosted a Centre Leaders Retreat to celebrate everyone's achievements!

November

Dr Sue Nang, an ECR from the Centre to Impact AMR, has been awarded first prize in the ATA Young Scientist Encouragement Award competition. Her research, within the Li group, focuses on the use of bacteriophages to combat the current global threat of AMR.

Professor Trevor Lithgow and Dr Mike McDonald formed part of the multidisciplinary partnership forming the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems. The establishment of this Centre, set to run from 2023 for seven years, will allow the researchers to use mathematical analysis methods to understand the complexity of cellular systems. Led by Professor Michael Stumpf from the University of Melbourne, Monash University’s team of Professor Trevor Lithgow, Dr Mike McDonald and Assoc Professors Traude Beilharz and Lan Nguyen bring their expertise in cell biology, evolution, RNA systems and computational biology to drive deeper insights into the mechanisms underlying cellular behaviour.

October

Prof. Trevor Lithgow and Dr Sarah McGuiness both received coveted NHMRC Investigator grants. The NHMRC Investigator Grants scheme provides the highest-performing researchers with salary and program funding to support research across biomedical, clinical, public health and health services areas.

Professor Trevor Lithgow: ‘Investigations into phage biology directed at therapies for antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections.’ Awarded $3.94 million (Leadership 3).
The rise of drug-resistant superbugs is a global problem with a bleak outlook. A projected increase to 10 million human deaths per year around the world can only be addressed with new, sustainable solutions. Professor Lithgow’s vision is to apply computational and structural biology, as well as biochemistry and microbiology, to evaluate and optimise the properties of viruses called "phages" to either resolve infections directly or re-sensitise bacteria in infection sites to existing drugs in clinical use.

Dr Sarah McGuinness: 'Improving strategies to combat preventable infections' Awarded $665K (Emerging Leadership 1)
People living in and visiting resource-poor settings are at increased risk of exposure to infections spread through food, water, mosquitoes and the environment, and preventive strategies often have limited success in real-world scenarios. This research aims to understand and overcome the barriers that limit the effectiveness and uptake of key preventive strategies (such as improved water supplies and vaccination) in these populations in order to improve health outcomes.

Professor Jian Li and his cross-disciplinary team, also led by Dr Kade Roberts and Associate Professor Tony Velkov have been awarded a 2022 FMNHS Dean's Award for Excellence in Research Engagement and Impact. This award recognises their  outstanding efforts in establishing a comprehensive antimicrobial discovery platform, that extends from medicinal chemistry through to animal model evaluation of their novel therapeutics targeting gram-negative superbugs.

September

Three ECRs within the Centre to Impact AMR have been awarded ARC DECRA Fellowships to pursue their research. Congratulations to Dr Chris Stubenrauch as he pursues a novel bacterial efflux pump; to Dr Meiling Han as she investigates bacterial membrane remodelling; and to Dr Rachael Lappan as she explores microbial life in the earth's atmosphere.

We are excited to be featured in the AMRInsights Special edition newsletter that reaches over 8000+ AMR professionals globally. Read more here.

Centre Leaders, Professor Catriona Bradshaw and Professor Chris Fairley and team are awarded the National Eureka Prize in Infectious diseases for their  work using genomics to understand and disrupt transmission of AMR STIs.

August

The Centre to Impact AMR congratulates Chris Greening on his promotion to Professor at Monash University. Recognition of his incredible contribution as a researcher, leader and collaborator, and as a valued member of our vibrant AMR community.

July

The Eureka prize finalists have been announced and the Centre to Impact AMR is proud to have three Centre Leaders amongst them. Congratulations to Assoc. Professor Chris Greening on his nomination as a finalist for The Eureka Prize 2022 as an outstanding early career scientist. Recognition of his innovative and pioneering research on microorganisms and their role in the methane cycle. Likewise Professor Chris Fairley and Professor Catriona Bradshaw and their team have been nominated in the Infectious Disease category for their work using genomics to understand and disrupt transmission of AMR STIs.

The Centre to Impact AMR congratulates both Thomas Naderer and Simon Corrie on their promotion to Associate Professors at Monash University. Recognition of their fine work as researchers, leaders and members of our vibrant AMR community.

June

The Centre to Impact AMR is delighted to to welcome Dr Sarah McGuinness as a new Centre Leader. Sarah is an academic infectious diseases physician with a research focuses on improving ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases in vulnerable populations. Sarah conducts research in Australia and overseas, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.  Welcome Sarah!

Dr Fernando Gordillo Altamirano was awarded the 2022 Mollie Holwood Doctoral Medal for Science for his thesis investigating phage antibiotic combination therapy to treat AMR.

Congratulations to Dr. Jinxin Zhao on being awarded a FMNHS Bridging Fellowship to continue his postdoctoral ECR research into combinatorial bacteriophage-antibiotic approaches to MDR Klebsiella within the Li lab.

May

The Centre to Impact AMR congratulates the four 2022 Impact AMR winners. Well done to Natalia Rosas, Chris McCrory, Jane Hawkey, and Lenka Vodstrcil.

Publication of the finding of surveillance testing of Australian supermarket beef and salmon, conducted by the R&D facility within the Centre to Impact AMR. Read about the report's impact here.

Release of “GUIDANCE FOR THE PREVENTION OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE WITH GENERAL PUBLICS”, authored by Centre to Impact AMR’s Mark Davis and Andrea Whittaker. Read more about it, and find a link to the full report here.

March

To present the results of his work in the Li Lab, Dr Jinxin Zhao has been awarded a Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences ECR Travel Award (2022) to travel to Europe to give an oral and poster presentation ECCMID on the use of bacteriophage-antibiotic combinations against a MDR Klebsiella strain. He will also take the opportunity to share his work during some lab visits at the University of Konstanz and Max Planck Institute.

February

Two Monash students whose PhD work encompassed AMR and collaborations with  researchers in the Centre to Impact AMR have been awarded Postgraduate Publication Awards. Congratulations to Alexander Wright, (PhD student in Lutpon lab, Chemistry Department) who worked alongside Matthew Belousoff and the Lithgow lab to synthesise and characterise novel linezolid based antibiotics targeting bacterial ribosomes. And well done to Yanan Wang, a PhD student in Jiangning Song’s research group who has applied his expertise in deep-learning to develop programs to identify novel beta-lactamases and phage-host interactions, amongst other projects.

January

Australian Academy Science awards Chris Greening the prestigious Fenner Medal for his research that demonstrated bacteria can live on air.

The collaborative work of researchers at Monash within the AMR space was published in Nature Communications. Hsin-hui Shen, Jian Li and Jiangning Song's research on a polytherapy approach to combat AMR using cubosomes and polymyxin is elaborating on the premise of repurposing and delivering 'old' drugs for emerging AMR pathogens.