The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded the University of Oxford £11 million to address the major public health threat of antimicrobial resistance.
The Oxford Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HCAI & AMR) which has been hosted by the University of Oxford since 2014, is one of 13 HPRUs that has been funded by the NIHR as part of an £80 million funding boost.
The award will allow the HPRU in HCAI & AMR, a multi-disciplinary partnership between the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the University of Oxford, to continue to find original and creative ways to combat the major threats posed by healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance, in strong collaboration with representatives of patients, the public and the NHS.
The HPRU will build on world-leading research, systems and tools developed over 10 years of working between partner universities and UKHSA.
From 1 April 2025, the HPRU will collaborate with Universities of Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester, bringing together world class researchers together to:
- Work out how information collected every time people go to hospital or their GP can be used to track infections and antimicrobial resistance
- Understand better who is most affected by healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance and why
- Explore how to use antibiotics better outside of hospitals
- Improve how we manage one of the most challenging and resistant types of infection, ‘gram-negative’ infections
Professor Sarah Walker who will continue as Director of the HPRU in HCAI & AMR, said: “We are excited to have this opportunity to build on our successful track record of collaborative working to drive changes in how we identify, monitor, investigate and ultimately reduce the impact of healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance over the next five years, whilst also training the next generation of public-health focussed researchers.”
Professor Walker is also the Oxford BRC’s Theme Lead for Modernising Medical Microbiology and Big Infection Diagnostics.
The 14 NIHR Health Protection Research Units were established to address key public health threats. The HPRUs are partnerships between Universities and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) forming multi-disciplinary centres of excellence with a focus on collaborations and knowledge sharing.