The Monash Warwick Alliance AMR Training Programme in Emerging Superbug Threats
Major Joint Research Initiative, commenced in 2022
The Monash Warwick Alliance has joined the global effort to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Our innovative programme in Emerging Superbug Threats will train outstanding PhD graduates to become the next generation of AMR research leaders.
AMR is defined as the acquisition of new traits or characteristics that enable microbes to survive and reproduce in the presence of antimicrobial drugs to which they were previously sensitive. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared AMR one of the top global public health threats, predicting deaths directly attributable to AMR to exceed 10 million a year by 2050.
To tackle AMR effectively, a future-ready workforce that can drive the next wave of scientific discoveries and their translation into clinical settings is crucial, yet current research and training programmes do not sufficiently develop the interdisciplinary skill set, and industrial and clinical linkages needed to achieve this.
The Monash Warwick Alliance is in a unique position to address this important unmet need. We have an unparalleled range of combined capabilities in infection biology and microbiology, chemical, structural and synthetic biology, synthetic chemistry and engineering. Coupled with access to clinicians and translational partners and outstanding technology and research platforms, the Alliance can deliver a multipronged approach and “out-of-the-box” thinking required to tackle AMR effectively.
Led by Professor Greg Challis, Monash Warwick Alliance Professor of Sustainable Chemistry (Chemical and Synthetic Biology) and Professor Ana Traven, an ARC Future Fellow and co-Head of the Infection and Immunity Research Program at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, our innovative programme in Emerging Superbug Threats will train outstanding PhD graduates to become the next generation of AMR research leaders.
Guided by a team of experts from diverse disciplines across Science, Medicine and Engineering, our fellows will develop expertise in key areas of AMR research, including antibiotic and antifungal discovery and development, identification of novel targets for therapeutic intervention, development of infection models, and clinical application and translation. The fellows will work in a highly collaborative international environment and will have opportunities to participate in established AMR training programs (such as the International Course on Antibiotics and Resistance) and undertake career development opportunities to develop translational skills (such as Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research).
This uniquely placed international training network will be a world-leading programme in developing the next generation of AMR research leaders. The Monash-Warwick Alliance Program in Emerging Superbug Threats was launched in January of 2022, with the appointment of 5 postdoctoral fellows (3 at Warwick and 2 at Monash). External funding has been obtained for a second intake of fellows through Philanthropic funding at the University of Warwick and funding grant awarded through the Australian Research Council at the end of 2021.
A virtual symposium was held on July 5th, 2022, with colleagues at Warwick and Monash, bringing key contributors to the program together and across capabilities in the program to inform future collaborative opportunities. Since then, there have been significant developments in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
One of the projects, led by Professor Ana Traven in collaboration with Professors Greg Challis and Mibel Aguilar has focused on a compound that has activity against priority pathogens. The compound is an antibiotic that bacteria make to compete against other microbes in their natural environment.
Professor Challis's laboratory isolated this compound and showed activity against the bacteria that causes tuberculosis and other pathogens. In Professor Traven's lab the focus is on deadly human fungal pathogens belonging to Candida species. These fungi cause life threatening infections for vulnerable patients with underlying medical conditions who undergo treatments such as chemotherapy and major surgeries, as well as patients in ICU and those suffering from COVID-19. The bacteria-made compound has some promising activities against Candida, with the project now focused on understanding the mechanism of action and how this new knowledge could inform better treatments for serious fungal infections.
On 26 Oct 2022, the World Health Organisation published a report highlighting the first-ever list of fungal "priority pathogens" It lists the 19 fungi that represent the greatest threat to public health . Professor Traven’s lab currently works on 2 of the 4 pathogens in the top (critical) priority group (Candida albicans and Candida auris). Her team has pioneered research on these pathogens in Australia, and work broadly on both antifungal drug discovery and understanding how strengthening immune responses could treat these infections. These two pathogens are central to our Monash-Warwick Alliance Program in Emerging Superbug Threats and the activities in the Centre to Impact AMR. Find out more here
Principle applicants
 ARC Future Fellow Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Head, Infection and Immunity Research Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute Monash University |  WISB Monash Warwick Alliance Professor of Sustainable Chemistry (Chemical and Synthetic Biology) Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick Distinguished Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University |
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Co-applicants
Monash University
Dena Lyras (Microbiology), Sheena McGowan (Microbiology), Mibel Aguilar (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), David Lupton (Chemistry) and Max Cryle (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
University of Warwick
Meera Unnikrishnan (Warwick Medical School), Freya Harrison (School of Life Sciences), Phill Stansfeld (School of Life Sciences/Chemistry), Seb Perrier (Chemistry/Warwick Medical School), David Roper (School of Life Sciences)
Research Fellows
Monash Fellows; Dr Claudia Simm, Dr Steven Batinovic, Dr Yuji Nakano
Warwick Fellows; Dr Dean Walsh, Dr Pooja Agarwal, Dr Daniel Van