Interesting talks and lively discussion at Theme 2 workshop
Professor Rob Eason led this lunchtime workshop for NAMRIP members around AMR theme 2: 'Accelerating therapeutics & diagnostic development'.
Before hearing about the pump priming projects underway within this theme, Professor Tim Leighton gave an update on NAMRIP activities including news about the 4 pump priming projects funded in round 3 and details of the round 4 competition aimed at members within the Faculties of Business, Law & Art and Social, Human and Mathematical Science.
Dr Collin Sones updated members on progress within his project 'Enabling testing of Antimicrobial Resistance to antibiotics via laser-patterned paper-platforms'. The aim of this project is to develop a test that could be used by the end user, so moving from the pathology lab for diagnosing bacterial infection to a point-of-care diagnostic test.
The second project update was from Dr Tom Secker who is project lead on two pump priming projects. The first project 'Ultrasonic cleaning of real world contaminated floor surfaces' plans to test cleaning efficiency within a butchers and abattoir using Starglider. Swabs will be taken and analysed before and after cleaning.
In his second project, 'The effect of surface roughness on the attachment and removal of MRSA and prion-associated amyloid from surgical surfaces', Tom and his team are investigating variations in the surfaces of surgical instruments and the effect this has on cleaning these instruments.
In the final presentation of the workshop we heard how Professor Tim Leighton is working with 2 hospitals, one in Lanarkshire, Scotland and the other in Bath, to test Starstream in the real world both in acute hospital wards and A+E.
Members enjoyed lunch and the opportunity to network, building new links across disciplines.