Conferences

Multidisciplinary Approaches to tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Our first EMBRACE conference took place on 9 March 2016, 9:00 - 17:00, at Imperial College's South Kensington campus.‌ As with all EMBRACE activities, our conference was designed to build multidisciplinary research capacity to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The conference gave researchers from Imperial and beyond the opportunity to see some of the innovative AMR research under way, and, just as importantly, the opportunity to identify potential research collaborators.‌ The conference included sessions on Data, Diagnostics and the Molecular Perspective, plus a panel discussion and poster competition.

Please find further information on the first conference in the news article 'EMBRACE collaborations to tackle antimicrobial resistance, say researchers'.

EMBRACE Final Conference Programme 
Times and venueEvent
9.00, SAF Foyer* Registration and coffee
9.30, 201 Skempton** Introduction to EMBRACE, Professor Alison Holmes, EPSRC Bridging The Gaps EMBRACE Co-PI, Director of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance
9.35, 201 Skempton** Introduction and welcome, Professor Alice P. Gast, President of Imperial College London
9.40, 201 Skempton** Keynote: Technology for the control of antimicrobial resistance – lessons from SE Asia, Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah, Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the National University Hospital, Singapore. He is also the research director of the division of infectious diseases and secretary-general of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control
10.15, 201 Skempton** Research Council support for AMR research, Victoria Marlow, EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Portfolio Manager
10.20, 201 Skempton** SESSION 1: DIAGNOSTICS
Chairs: Professor Chris Toumazou, Dr Pantelis Georgiou and Dr Lindsay Evans
10.25, 201 Skempton** The impact of sequencing as a rapid clinical diagnostic for antimicrobial-resistant organisms, Sam Reed, DNAe Electronics, President of the US office
10.45, 201 Skempton** One-step lipid-based identification of bacteria and determination of antimicrobial resistance: from bench work to diagnostics using current clinical laboratory facilities, Dr. Gerald Larrouy-Maumus, Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology; Group Leader at MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology & Infection
11.05 - break,
201 Skempton**		 Flash presentations:
1. Detection of bacterial infection using host blood RNA, Dr Myrsini Kaforou
2. EMBRACE Pump-priming award winner: Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) for the characterisation of micro-organisms, Dr Frankie Bolt
11.20,  SAF Foyer* Refreshment and poster displays
11.40, 201 Skempton** >> SESSION 2: DATA
>> Chairs: Professor Alison Holmes and Dr Pau Herrero-Viñas
11.45, 201 Skempton** Immersive collaborative data visualisation, Dr David Birch, Research Associate, Data Science Institute, Imperial College.
12.10, 201 Skempton** Clinical datasets driving research in AMR, Jon Otter, General Manager, Infection Prevention and Control Directorate, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 
12.30 - lunch, 
201 Skempton** 		 Flash presentation: Surveillance to stewardship: using big data to bridge the gap, Dr Luke Moore
12.40, SAF Foyer* Lunch, posters and networking
14.15, 201 Skempton** >> SESSION 3: THE MOLECULAR PERSPECTIVE
>> Chair: Professor Ramon Vilar and Dr Maryam Modarai
14.20, 201 Skempton** Tuberculosis and the sputum microbiome, Professor Douglas Young, The Francis Crick Institute
14.40, 201 Skempton** Chemical biology approaches in infectious disease, Professor Ed Tate
15.00 - break, 
201 Skempton** 		 Flash presentations:
1. Antimicrobial resistance and Pseudomonas aeruginosa lifestyles, Dr Martina Valentini
2. EMBRACE Pump-priming award winner: Targeting quadruplex-DNA in the promoters of genes associated with antibacterial resistance, Dr Miraz Rahman 
15.15, SAF Foyer* Refreshments and poster displays
15.45, 201 Skempton** >> SESSION 4: PANEL DISCUSSION: EMBRACE & THE GLOBAL AMR CHALLENGE
Chair: Professor Neil Alford, Vice Dean of Research, Faculty of Engineering
Panellists:
> Professor Paul Ananth Tambyah, Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the National University Hospital, Singapore
> Professor Tim Leighton, Professor of Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics and founding Chairman of NAMRIP (Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention), University of Southampton
> Dr Kai Stoeber, Vice President, Global Innovation, Shionogi Ltd
> Sam Reed, President of the US office, DNAe Electronics
> Professor Alison Holmes, EPSRC Bridging The Gaps EMBRACE Co-PI, Director of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance
> Dr Pantelis Georgiou, EPSRC Bridging The Gaps EMBRACE Co-PI, Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
16.45, 201 Skempton** Closing words: Professor James Stirling CBE FRS, Provost of Imperial College London
17.00, SAF Foyer* DRINKS RECEPTION and poster winners.
*SAF - Sir Alexander Fleming building  ** Lecture Theatre 201, the Skempton building. Imperial College London, South Kensington, SW7 2AZ
Summary of the table's co