UCT-led project awarded £500 000 to fast-track research on antimicrobial resistance

A University of Cape Town (UCT) project has been awarded the prestigious Trinity Challenge prize worth £500 000 to fast-track their pioneering research on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in small-scale farming communities.

AMRoots – a subset of the multidisciplinary Rural Livelihoods One Health Research group – is dedicated to generating new data that provides insight into how AMR develops and is transmitted in livestock farming communities, critical for the future of food security in sub-Saharan Africa. This year, the project scooped third place in the Trinity Challenge – a charity committed to supporting data-driven solutions that will help the world prepare for and respond to global outbreaks and health emergencies. 

Each of the four projects awarded funding have one thing in common: they are focused on bridging gaps in communities and lower-income countries that are disproportionately affected by AMR.

“The vision and hard work of our winners have been inspiring. They each show that everyone can make a difference and be part of the solution to the antibiotic emergency,” said Trinty Challenge chairperson and the United Kingdom’s Special Envoy on AMR, Professor Dame Sally Davies.

Recognising pioneering work

AMRoots member and professor in clinical pharmacology at UCT, Professor Helen McIlleron, described AMR as a growing and critical health concern globally. Therefore, she said, the award recognises the importance of working with communities in a multidisciplinary way, as well as the interconnectedness of the health of humans, animals and the environment, and the essential role marginalised communities such as small-scale farmers play in challenges of global concern.

“I am delighted to receive the support for our multidisciplinary team to work with the community towards the health and improved livelihoods of small-scale community farmers who are marginalised, but essential for food security,” Professor McIlleron said.

“The award funds a proof-of-concept project and will support further multidisciplinary research applications [into] seeking one health solution to a variety of health and livelihood issues.”

“We think there is an opportunity to link community benefit to addressing [this] global concern. The award funds a proof-of-concept project and will support further multidisciplinary research applications [into] seeking one health solution to a variety of health and livelihood issues.”

A gap in data

According to Professor Marc Mendelson, the director of the Trinity Challenge and the head of the Division of Infectious Disease and HIV Medicine at UCT and Groote Schuur Hospital, the challenge focuses on a gap in data at community level, across One Health and in low- to middle-income countries where the burden of bacterial infection is highest.

“I am delighted that our winners have solutions to mitigate antibiotic resistance and improve our understanding in both human and animal health. I am excited to work with these teams as their innovations come to life,” Professor Mendelson said.