Fostering Research Partnerships to Address Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance
An issue as complex as antimicrobial resistance requires a comprehensive approach that draws upon not only federal agencies and academic researchers, but also industry, healthcare providers, and individual citizens in order to advance basic and applied research as well as to support public health efforts in managing antimicrobial resistance.
Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance
NIH the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration are co-chairs of the Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance. Created in 1999, the task force includes a number of other federal agencies as well. The representatives created an action plan that outlines specific steps needed to combat antimicrobial resistance in healthcare and agricultural settings, and an annual progress report describes the progress that has been made towards the outlined action items.
Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance
NIAID co-sponsors an annual conference on antimicrobial resistance (non-government link) with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and other government and nonprofit agencies. The conference updates attendees on the science, prevention, and control of antimicrobial resistance and provides a forum for discussing new methods of treatment and control.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
NIAID facilitates the development of Public-Private Partnerships, which are collaborations between public institutions (governmental and academic) and non-governmental agencies (large pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies), that will accelerate research and development of new drugs targeting infectious diseases. Some examples are:
- Lilly Not-for-Profit Partnership for TB Early Phase Drug Discovery.
- Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases in Singapore and the Singapore Economic Development Board.
- Partnerships for Neglected Diseases is an NIAID supported initiative that establishes collaboration between diverse organizations. Among the recent collaborations is one aimed at developing a new drug for visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that is fatal if left untreated, and another aimed at increasing the drug pipeline for drugs against African sleeping sickness.
- Medicines for Malaria Venture (non-government link); a non-profit organization who is partnering with NIAID to develop a new drug for malaria.
Workshops on New Drug Approaches for Infectious Disease
In 2006, NIAID convened two workshops on infectious disease therapeutics. One focused on potential new classes of antibiotics; the other explored the possibility of treating infectious diseases by modulating the immune system. Workshop participants assessed the current state of knowledge, identified approaches that have been successful in the past, and brainstormed about ways in which new areas of research could revolutionize the treatment of infectious diseases. The workshop report, "Treating Infectious Diseases in a Microbial World: Report of Two Workshops on Novel Antimicrobial Therapeutics" (non-government link) is available from the National Academies Press.
Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus (NARSA)
NIAID supports NARSA (non-government link), a multidisciplinary international cadre of scientists conducting basic and clinical research focused on combating antimicrobial-resistant S. aureus and related staphylococcal bacterial infections. NARSA facilitates scientific interactions by producing a forum for discussion and collaboration, and by providing key research resources such as bacterial isolates and reagents. Additionally, NARSA is research resource dedicated to understanding Staphylococcus aureus, that draws together more than 200 investigators, clinical lab scientists, and epidemiologists who share information and maintain a repository of over two hundred S. aureus strains. The NIAID-supported repository helps researchers keep tabs on the emergence of new drug-resistant strains of S. aureus.
back to top