News & Events
18 August 2023
AMR Hub researchers celebrate their first annual research symposium
Recently, more than 60 AMR Hub researchers came together, virtually and in person, to celebrate the AMR Hub’s first annual research symposium.
This exciting event included presentations from industry and academia, with a view to celebrating the productive collaborative research being tackled within the AMR Hub. We had talks from Industry partners, Dr Elisa Mokany (Chief Technology Officer, SpeeDx) and Julie Phillips (Managing Director, Opal Biosciences), on industry perspectives for pharmaceuticals and molecular diagnostic assay design. Academic hub researchers also presented their important outputs, including tackling the development of “next generation” of diagnostic assays for STI superbugs, supporting antimicrobial stewardship at the point-of-care as well as diagnostics and novel approaches to accelerate drug discovery. We also had brilliant presentations and discussions surrounding the complexities of politics and economics related to antimicrobial resistance and modelling approaches to understand the impact of the diagnostics tools developed as part of the AMR Hub.
This symposium provided the perfect platform to highlight the important achievements we have made to date, and gain perspectives on where this research is leading us over the coming years.
25th IUSTI World Congress Incorporating the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference
17 – 20 September 2024
ICC, Sydney
16 June 2023
Wintermute Collaborates with University of Melbourne Researcher to Tackle Oral Gonorrhoea: Advancing Research for Effective Treatments
We are thrilled to announce that Wintermute Biomedical Australia has partnered with University of Melbourne researchers Fabian Kong and Antonio Celentano to combat multi-drug resistant oral gonorrhoea. Wintermute’s innovative fatty acid-based formulations will undergo screening in a novel oral human tissue model of gonorrhoea infection, with the goal of developing a topical product such as a chewing gum to prevent oral gonorrhoea infections.
13 Jun 2023
AMR Hub Researchers recognised in 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.
- Prof. Treloar FASSA was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to social research, and to tertiary education.
- Adjunct Professor Alison Todd FTSE, AM in the General Division – School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, UNSW Science. For significant service to medical research, and to tertiary education.
22 November 2022
Adjunct Professor Alison Todd and Dr Elisa Mokany (SpeeDx) have received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation.
They have been recognised for improving personalised clinical diagnosis and treatments for a range of diseases and cancers, using ground-breaking molecular diagnostics technology.
Adjunct Professor Alison Todd and Dr Elisa Mokany (SpeeDx) have been recognised for improving personalised clinical diagnosis and treatments for a range of diseases and cancers, using ground-breaking molecular diagnostics technology. In 2009, the pair founded SpeeDx which creates faster, more accurate and cost-effective solutions to analyse and interpret genetic information. Its local manufacturing efforts have also meant the company is better placed to respond to instances of increased demand, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjunct Professor Todd and Dr Mokany have also forged a trailblazing path for women in STEM and the biotechnology industry in Australia. Currently, 70 per cent of SpeeDx’s workforce and 50 per cent of its management are women.
14 November 2022
VIDRL becomes official partner of AMR Hub.
Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute has officially joined the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Research Hub to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
31 August 2022
Associate Professor Eric Chow, Professor Christopher Fairley, Professor Catriona Bradshaw, Professor Jane Hocking, Professor Deborah Williamson Hub researchers win prestigious Eureka Prize.
Rapid rises in sexually transmitted infection (STI) and antibiotic resistance are a growing global concern. A research team at Monash University in collaboration with The University of Melbourne has explored new routes of transmission for gonorrhoea, and developed novel interventions and strategies to treat and improve the control of gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis and Mycoplasma genitalium and to optimise antimicrobial stewardship. This includes (1) conducting the first clinical trial to compare the efficacy of azithromycin with doxycycline for rectal chlamydia to inform Australian and international treatment guidelines; (2) investigating new agents for resistant M. genitalium and developing a novel resistance-guided treatment strategy to improve cure of M. genitalium that changed international policy and practice; (3) using genomics to respond to sexually transmitted pathogens; and (4) identify kissing as a risk factor for gonorrhoea transmission and investigating mouthwash as a potential intervention for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea.
03 August 2022
The ARC ITRP Hub to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance is officially launched.
On 3 August 2022, the AMR Hub was launched at a special online event. The AMR Hub is a world-first partnership between research, industry and other stakeholders to combat antimicrobial resistance. The event was chaired by Chief Investigator and Hub Director, Professor Rebecca Guy, with guest presentations from: – Professor Attila Brungs, Vice Chancellor and President, UNSW Sydney – Professor Sean Emery, Senior Vice Dean, Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney – Ms Judi Zielke, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Council
27 July 2022
Congratulations to the four MNHS nominated finalists for the 2022 prestigious Eureka Prizes
Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research
Associate Professor Eric Chow (Monash Central Clinical School), Professor Christopher Fairley, Professor Catriona Bradshaw, Professor Marcus Chen, along with Professor Jane Hocking and Professor Deborah Williamson from The University of Melbourne.
Rapid rises in sexually transmitted infection (STI) and antibiotic resistance are a growing global concern. A research team at Monash University in collaboration with The University of Melbourne has explored new routes of transmission for gonorrhoea, and developed novel interventions and strategies to treat and improve the control of gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis and Mycoplasma genitalium and to optimise antimicrobial stewardship.
This includes
- conducting the first clinical trial to compare the efficacy of azithromycin with doxycycline for rectal chlamydia to inform Australian and international treatment guidelines;
- investigating new agents for resistant M. genitalium and developing a novel resistance-guided treatment strategy to improve cure of M. genitalium that changed international policy and practice;
- using genomics to respond to sexually transmitted pathogens; and
- identify kissing as a risk factor for gonorrhoea transmission and investigating mouthwash as a potential intervention for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea.
Professor Rebecca Guy, AMR Hub Director, has been awarded the Gustav Nossal Medal for Global Health from the Australian Academy of Science.
The Academy’s annual medals recognise scientific excellence by researchers from the early stages of their careers to those who have made lifelong achievements. They are highly prestigious. Rebecca has been recognised for her role implementing and evaluating public health interventions related to HIV and sexually transmissible infections (STIs), particularly among vulnerable populations.