Walsh lab

AMR burden and antibiotics for animal use

The research of our group is driven by a desire to develop important actionable estimates of the global burden of AMR that will impact global and regional policy decisions, and to discover viable alternative antibiotics that can be used in animals.

For this, we rely on a variety of expertise, including in epidemiology, clinical medicine, cellular and molecular microbiology, genetics and genomics.

AMR burden and surveillance

The global burden of AMR is increasing, yet there is still a lack of accurate data on the burden of common antimicrobial-resistant infections, particularly from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). At the IOI, we undertake international, collaborative studies with global surveillance and assessment programs to understand the impact of AMR on health and agricultural structures across LMICs. We aim to develop important actionable estimates of the AMR burden that will impact global and regional policy decisions.

Animal antibiotics

Most antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections in humans - such as ampicillin, oxytetracycline and colistin - are also used in animals, which is a major contributory factor to the growth of AMR.

We are designing novel screening programs and new candidate compounds to discover viable alternative antibiotics that can be used solely in agriculture and aquaculture, and produce zero cross-resistance to human antibiotics.

We use a unique approach that involves new screening conditions that better mimic those experienced by antibiotics once within animals. We have multiple ongoing screening initiatives, including on: