The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) is organising a series of webinars to highlight and clarify the importance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic and future viral pandemics.

The burden of AMR is likely to increase due to the escalated use of antibiotics to treat bacterial co-infections in COVID-19 patients. Effective treatment of patients in the current and future virus pandemics requires both better and faster diagnostics to confirm bacterial (co-)infection and antibiotic susceptibility and a choice of alternative antibiotics for those, potentially resistant, bacterial co-infections.

Many AMR research areas are interlinked with COVID-19 research and both fields could cross-benefit from synergies and collaboration on data collection but AMR researchers need access to patient data, samples, scientific instruments, laboratory resources and research funding, of which the availability is likely to be prioritised for projects focused on COVID-19 research.

The webinars bring together world-leading researchers and clinicians discuss the prevalence of bacterial co-infections, best practise and appropriate use of antibiotics, and opportunities and challenges for AMR research in the COVID-19 pandemic.

How do we simultaneously manage the acute COVID-19 pandemic and escalating antibiotic resistance?

September 18, 14.00-15.00 CEST

Moderator: Constance Schultsz (University of Amsterdam) 

Panellists: Charu Kaushic (GloPID-R), Steven Hoffman (Global Strategy Lab), Margo Warren (Access to Medicine Foundation), Ghada Zoubiane (ICARS), Sabiha Essack (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Otto Cars (ReAct) and Ramanan Laxminarayan (CDDEP & Princeton University)

Past events in this series

Antibiotic Use: Have antibiotics been appropriately used in the COVID-19 pandemic?

June 25, 13.00-14.00 CEST 

Moderator: Jesús Rodriguez Baño (ES)

Panellists: Gian Maria Rossolini (IT), Constance Schultsz (NL), Evelina Tacconelli (IT), Srinivas Murthy (CA), Norio Ohmagari (JP) and Alison Holmes (UK) 

This event has already taken place. For more information and a link to the recorded webinar please click here: Key takeaways from webinar on antibiotic use in the COVID-19 pandemic

AMR Research: Facilitating AMR research in the COVID-19 pandemic

June 25, 14.30-15.30 CEST

Moderator: Till Bachmann (UK) 

Panellists: Rafael Canton (ES), Adam Roberts (UK), Birgitta Henriques Normark (SE), Neil Clancy (US), George Haringhuizen (NL) and Benedikt Huttner (WHO)

This event has already taken place. For more information and a link to the recorded webinar please click here: Key takeaways from webinar on facilitating amr research in the COVID-19 pandemic

Cover picture: Coronavirus Life Cycle, David S. Goodsell, RCSB Protein Data Bank; doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-023, CC-BY-4.0 license.

Contact information

For questions please contact the JPIAMR Secretariat, secretariat.jpiamr@vr.se

Registration

To register for the webinar please chose date and fill in the information requested in the form below.