icon
Close
My ERS
icon
icon

Home Science and Research Clinical Research Collaboration: application programme AMR-Lung – AntiMicrobial Resistance in Lung infections

AMR-Lung – AntiMicrobial Resistance in Lung infections

CRC Chairs:
Stuart Elborn (Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom)
Miquel Ekkelenkamp (UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Stephanie Thee (Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

About AMR-Lung

The AMR-Lung (AntiMicrobial Resistance in Lung infections) clinical research collaboration was launched by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in 2022.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 public health threats the world is currently facing. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability to infectious diseases, which may be caused either by new (respiratory) pathogens of zoonotic origin, or by multi-resistant / difficult-to-treat variants of already known human pathogens. This has spotlighted the urgent need to use current antibiotics judiciously and to develop new anti-microbial strategies, particularly against resistant pathogens. The use of antibiotics has proven lifesaving for many different infections. However, the overuse of them – often misused for non-bacterial or non-infectious diseases has led to development of antimicrobial resistance and thus to a sharp decline in their effectiveness. New partnership models are required which share risk, resources and expertise across academia, philanthropies, industry and the public sector. This CRC will focus on patient groups where complex infections cause lung disease and where there is a need to both develop new effective antibiotics and to use current drugs available in a better way.

Specific aims

The vision of the CRC AMR-Lung is to develop a better understanding of the extent of the antimicrobial resistance-associated problems in pulmonology, to develop appropriate diagnostic tools to predict effect of treatment, and to improve patient treatment, in particular with regards to antibiotic prescribing.

With this purpose, AMR-Lung aims specifically to:

  • Analyse the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens, with an emphasis on chronic lung infection.
  • Establish which methodologies are currently employed in microbiological diagnostics of infection from airway samples, and critically review their clinical value.
  • Perform basic studies, exploring the utility of novel diagnostic tests to predict response to antibiotic treatment in chronic lung infection.
  • Unite stakeholders in the area of complex pulmonary infection (respiratory medicine, infectious diseases/microbiology and public health, pharmaceutical companies and patient representatives) and develop a research agenda for the coming years.
  • Define the principles of prudent and targeted antibiotic use in complex lung infections.

Stakeholders

The CRC AMR-Lung Executive Scientific committee is composed of the CRC chairs, clinician researchers, experts in translational research, early career members and patient representatives.

Contact

If you are interested in more information about CRC AMR-Lung or would like to join the network, please contact scientific@ersnet.org.