Great University Science Quiz

Great University Science Quiz; getting quizzy with it

Anthony Mitchell Get involved, Research

Antibiotic Research UK was thrilled to host the 2021 Great University Science Quiz on Wednesday 24 November. The online event starred celebrity comedian Cerys Nelmes as the host. Pre-recorded quiz rounds by celebrity scientists Dr Kat Arney, Professor Monica Grady and Professor Jim Al-Khalili were a huge success. Players and teams from 14 different universities across the UK were really …

Small Research Grants

Antibiotic Research UK awards grants to fund research worth £200,000

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Press Release, Research

York, UK, 2nd November 2021 / Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK), the world’s first charity tackling bacterial antibiotic resistance, is delighted to announce that it is funding seven new antibiotic research projects totalling £200,000. This is the largest sum it has ever awarded through its 2021 Small Research Grants/Career Development Awards scheme. The UK research grants will fund essential academic research …

DIAMOND study combines over-the-counter treatments for travellers' diarrhoea

DIAMOND study shows new treatment combination could reduce antibiotic use

Anthony Mitchell ANTRUK announcements, Research, Treatments

Antibiotic Research UK-funded research project DIAMOND has recently published very promising findings in the Pilot and Feasibility Studies journal. The DIAMOND study tested a combination of existing over-the-counter remedies for the treatment of travellers’ diarrhoea. The combination was discovered to have potential in a few isolated cases. It has now been extended to a wider group of patients in China. …

Antibiotic resistance breakers researcher Julie Tod and an agar plate

Antibiotic resistance breakers back on track

Anthony Mitchell Research, Treatments

Research funded by Antibiotic Research UK is now back on track after a pandemic-related pause. Our project to discover potential antibiotic resistance ‘breakers’ identified one particularly promising combination of treatments. We can now test that combination on samples of bacteria (isolates) taken from infected patients at participating hospitals. Antibiotic resistance breakers – how do they work? Resistance breakers are combinations …

Life Sciences Vision - our view

Comment on the Life Sciences Vision policy

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Coronavirus COVID-19, Parliament, Press Release, Research

On 6 July 2021, the UK government published its Life Sciences Vision policy. It described this policy as a “plan to create a thriving sector, and tackle the major causes of death and disease”. It sets out how, over the next ten years, the UK will tackle some of the major diseases that affect our society. This includes dementia, cancer, …

Petri dish representing an E. coli culture and hand in lab gloves

E. coli: infections under the microscope

Anthony Mitchell Learn more, Research, Treatments

Escherichia coli (E. coli), is a type of bacteria that occurs in the intestines of people and animals, often without causing any problems at all. But in some cases it causes illnesses ranging from mild (acute diarrhoea) to life-threatening (haemolytic-uremic syndrome and severe bacteraemia). One study demonstrates that E. coli caused fatal diarrhoea in nearly 60,000 people in 2016, globally. …

Vaccine being prepared by a person in a white lab coat and blue gloves

Vaccines and clots; how to balance medical risks

Anthony Mitchell Coronavirus COVID-19, Learn more, Research, Treatments

We have explored the general medical theme behind many of the COVID-19 headlines over the past year. The latest hot topic is the apparent risk of blood clots as a side effect of some COVID vaccines. So what are the risks, and what can this teach us about medicine? All medicines carry the risk of side effects or severe adverse …

preventing future pandemics with hand santising

COVID-19: a glimpse into our future?

Anthony Mitchell Coronavirus COVID-19, Research, Treatments

The year is 2051. More than 10 million people have died from antibiotic-resistant infections this year. People are asking why we didn’t do more to protect our precious antibiotics. Why are people dying from what were previously ‘minor’ infections? How did such a devastating pandemic come out of nowhere like this? The truth is that the above situation could happen …

c diff infections being viewed under a microscope

C. diff: infections under the microscope

Anthony Mitchell Coronavirus COVID-19, Learn more, Patient stories, Research, Treatments

Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, is a type of bacteria that can live in our digestive system without causing any problems. In fact, it is present in around 1 in 30 of us. But it can also cause a nasty infection and is the most common cause of hospital diarrhoea. It particularly affects people who have recently received antibiotics. These …

Live with Scientists talk banner featuring antibiotic resistance

LIVE with Scientists inspires students with science

Anthony Mitchell ANTRUK announcements, Learn more, Research

Antibiotic Research UK and LIVE with Scientists teamed up for an interactive Antibiotic Resistance webinar earlier this month. The sell-out online event brought secondary school- and college-age students a fantastic insight into the work of PhD scientists investigating antibiotic resistance. The LIVE with Scientists programme is an online platform that hosts live science talks and interviews. It aims to provide …

Illustration of gut bacteria in a human silhouette

Gut bacteria, antibiotics and human health

Anthony Mitchell Learn more, Research, Treatments

Did you know there are as many bacterial cells in the human body as there are human cells? These bacteria are essential to life and good health. They are also of increasing interest to scientists and doctors investigating causes of ill health. This blog provides a simple summary of some of the latest and most interesting research in the field …

A queue of international travellers lining up for a plane, silhouetted against a yellow sunset.

International travellers spread dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria with ease, study finds

Anthony Mitchell Research

New research, published in The Lancet Microbe on 23 February 2021, shows how antibiotic-resistant infections can spread easily when we travel. The study highlights how international travellers/tourists who share facilities can spread resistant infections. In one case, tourists staying separately were found to have the same strain of a bacteria after sharing a shower facility. Study details Scientists from the …

mRNA vaccines for antibiotic-resistant infections?

Could mRNA vaccines protect us from antibiotic-resistant infections?

Alison Staples Research, Treatments

A new type of vaccine – mRNA vaccines – were first seen in clinical practice as COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines offer hope for much faster production of vaccines, even those for bacterial illnesses (remember, COVID-19 is caused by a virus). Traditional vaccines include a dead or weakened (also called ‘attenuated’) sample of the bacteria that we want the immune system …

A close-up view of a microscope's lenses

Antibiotic Research UK’s 2018 Small Research Grants bear fruit

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Research

One of Antibiotic Research UK’s key objectives is to provide funding that supports UK university academics in their research into antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Our Small Research Grants fulfil that objective and allow us to quickly allocate funding in response to new research opportunities as and when they arise. Research is vital to our mission – the knowledge and understanding …

Young woman in hospital with an antibiotic resistant UTI

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the spotlight

Anthony Mitchell ANTRUK announcements, Research

There has been a surge in people looking to Antibiotic Research UK’s information about urinary tract infections (UTIs). These painful and dangerous infections, also known as cystitis, are on the rise in the UK. Find out more about the latest UTI research from around the world. UTIs are a common and unpleasant infection that make it painful to pee. But …

representation of coronavirus and bacterial infections

Antibiotic Research UK, coronavirus (COVID-19), bacterial infection and antibiotic resistance

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Coronavirus COVID-19, Research

We are just at the beginning of what might become one of the world’s biggest viral pandemic ever seen. Every day that goes by we are hearing more and more about the impact of this flu pandemic. Why is it happening? Will it go away? How many people will die? Will I get the infection? How can I protect myself …

First results of Antibiotic Research UK funded science programmes presented at 2019 ECCMID in Amsterdam

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Research

Scientific progress often appears to  move at a snail’s pace owing to the rigorous design of experiments and repetition of findings. We were delighted therefore when the results of two of our research programmes which we supported were presented as posters at the 2019 European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Poster 1 was …

Non-antibiotic therapy to treat Travellers’ Diarrhoea – DIAMOND clinical trial – over 120 patients now recruited

Alison Staples ANTRUK announcements, Research

One way of reducing the use of antibiotics is to find non-antibiotic alternatives for treating infection. Working with collaborators in Cambridge, the University of Southampton, the University of Hong Kong, Zhejiang University and Jiading District Central Hospital Affiliated Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences, Shanghai, China we are testing a non-antibiotic triple therapy for the treatment of Travellers Diarrhoea (TD). …

Will Major Pharma Get Back To Discovering And Developing Antibiotics Any Time Soon?

Alison Staples Learn more, Research

The short answer is I doubt it. The problem of bacterial antibiotic resistance is not new but it’s largely ignored. Successive governments around the world have failed to implement real change. They have not put significant financial incentives in place. Numerous reports, meetings and government statements about the problem have failed to reverse the trend of major pharma withdrawing from …