Swedish university to create Antibiotics Centre
Uppsala University will take an inter-disciplinary approach
Uppsala University in Sweden is to create an Uppsala Antibiotics Centre, which aims to become an interdisciplinary resource centre and forum in the area of antibiotic resistance.
Anders Malmberg, Uppsala University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: ‘We want to assume responsibility and take up the urgent challenge in this matter, which is so pressing for humankind. Here, we have a unique capacity to do it with the interdisciplinary approach that’s required.'
This spring Uppsala University has been carrying out an extensive survey of expertise in antibiotic resistance, which has shown that 'national and international cross-sectoral competence' is available in Uppsala. By creating a Centre, the University intends to further strengthen expertise in antibiotic resistance. There is a broad internal consensus on this venture, and funds have been allocated at several levels in the University.
‘Uppsala offers a tremendous range of skills and experience in the area of antibiotic resistance — not only within but outside the University as well. And that’s not just in research but in entrepreneurial activities. And, not least, publicity and opinion formation are underway through the Uppsala-based international network ReAct (Action on Antibiotic Resistance),’ added Stellan Sandler, Vice-Rector for the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy.
The Uppsala Antibiotic Centre will seek to achieve the best possible synergy between cutting-edge and wide-ranging research. It is intended to be not only a knowledge centre for decision-makers and other sectors of society, but also to have a strong focus on training a new generation of researchers with comprehensive knowledge of the issue of antibiotic resistance.
At Uppsala University, relevant research in all the disciplines concerned is in progress, as are several major research projects supported by the EU. Besides strong basic research in pharmaceuticals, microbiology and antibiotic resistance, research is also being conducted in diagnostics, new economic models, law, zoonoses (diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans), clinical research, ethics, global health, sustainable development, behaviour and learning. Major EU projects in the area of antibiotics, ENABLE and DRIVE-AB, are being led from Uppsala University. Key expertise is also available at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the National Veterinary Institute (SVA), the National Food Agency (SLV), the Medical Products Agency (LMV) and several companies.
