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Antimicrobial resistance is widely recognised as an urgent threat to world health. As well as new drugs, there is also a need to make best possible use of existing antimicrobial agents.
We are applying the latest molecular and genetic technologies to generate a better understanding of how antimicrobial use leads to the emergence and spread of resistance.
We have a complementary focus on diagnostics, which is central to effective antimicrobial management, enabling drugs to be tailored to patients’ specific infections.
CDAR brings together basic scientists with clinical academics to form a centre that is highly focused on clinically oriented goals.
Close integration with our adjoining hospital, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, ensures that research is rooted in the realities of clinical practice and addresses clinical priorities, while also providing opportunities for evaluation and implementation within health systems.
As well as extensive academic and clinical links, we are also embedded in national and international networks for antimicrobial resistance surveillance and epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship and healthcare policy.
Development and deployment of medical technologies demands an interdisciplinary approach, and CDAR is committed to working collaboratively with all sectors – academia, industry, clinicians, patients and the public, and health policy-makers – to deliver practical, reliable and clinically useful tools.
CDAR researchers have extensive experience in diagnostic development and evaluation, clinical trials and surveillance, across multiple types of pathogen and in both the developed and developing world.
Now, we aim to work with partners to exploit new technological opportunities to develop and deliver much needed new diagnostics and interventions for key infectious diseases.
CDAR aims to maximise its impact by forging links with individuals, groups and companies with like-minded interests and complementary expertise. It is well-placed to respond rapidly to emerging threats and opportunities.
There is a strong culture of collaboration and sharing of information and expertise within the xentre, and within the wider Institute for Infection and Immunity.
Our researchers also maintain close ties with collaborators in the UK, Europe and in low- and middle-income countries. These international links provide opportunities for extensive field-based work and evaluation of new diagnostic tools, as well as for clinical trials of new therapies.
Our close relationship with St George’s Hospital roots our work in the everyday necessities of clinical practice. Our relationships with organisations such as the South London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) and Public Health England reinforce connections to clinical practice.
CDAR researchers have excellent links with policy-makers and, internationally, to NGOs with an interest in diagnostics development. Our researchers are members of multiple national and international expert advisory groups and UK Department of Health Expert Advisory Committees. We also advise the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND).
We have established multiple productive partnerships with biotech companies in product development, and centre researchers act as advisors for pharmaceutical companies.
We have strong international connections, including clinical research partners throughout Europe and the USA and in sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and South America.
The centre is keen to develop these relationships further, in order to accelerate development and application of new diagnostics. We are committed to establishing laboratory systems compatible with industry standards to promote efficient collaboration, and to strengthening our interactions with clinical colleagues to more fully integrate research and practice. Ultimately, tackling the urgent threat posed by antimicrobial resistance will depend on effectively mobilising these interdisciplinary connections.