Dear All,
If there is a silver lining to the dark cloud of COVID-19, it’s that we’re all becoming very VERY skillful with internet-based collaboration tools: “to zoom” certainly seems destined to appear in future dictionaries as a synonym for meeting in this way!
With that in mind, two recent notices merit sharing:
First, the EU-based JPIAMR (Joint Programming Initiative on AMR, https://www.jpiamr.eu/, a pan-European funding collaboration) has been working recently to develop a Virtual Research Initiative (VRI). Here’s the link to the VRI homepage. In brief, the VRI has these key goals:
- Connect people to people: A platform that provides the infrastructure to facilitate interactions between a large number of people to bring those with complementary interests together and fosters networking that results in long term relationships.
- Connect people to data: Enable people to connect with the most appropriate resources to collect evidence and reach new insights.
- Create mobilization and synergy: Engage organizations and people to reach above their individual capabilities under one common goal. To create momentum where knowledge and information exchange can take place across different stakeholders.
I think this is a really worthwhile idea, especially given that face-to-face collaborations are likely to be limited for some time yet. As part of the design of the VRI, the JPIAMR team invites all of us to provide input via the survey at this link. The survey takes < 15 minutes … please help create this future tool! The deadline for your response is 31 May 2020.
Second, please note the two new webinars from the Global AMR R&D Hub in the forward meeting calendar. Entitled: “How to use the Global AMR R&D Hub’s Dynamic Dashboard,” the webinars are going to be identical in content but timed for accessibility in different parts of the world:
- 27 May 2020: 2-3p GMT
- 28 May 2020: 7-8a GMT
I’ve written before about the dashboard (link) and its intent to provide real-time information on AMR R&D investments, products in the pipeline, and R&D incentives. The webinar’s impressive speaker line-up represents both G20 governments and private philanthropy — this should be a good update: Bersabel Ephrem (Public Health Agency of Canada), Renu Swarup (Ministry of Science & Technology, India), Lyalya Gabbasova (Ministry of Health, Russian Federation), Tim Jinks (Wellcome Trust), and Elmar Nimmesgern, (Global AMR R&D Hub).
Please plan to attend! You can register here for either webinar.
Stay safe and keep working on those new antibiotics, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.
Current funding opportunities:
- Dates for the 2020 funding rounds for Novo REPAIR Impact Fund will be announced May 2020. Go here for current details.
- 2020 funding rounds for CARB-X have not been announced.
- The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes funders and projects by geography, stage, and more.
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:
- 19 May 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Assay development for measuring antibiotic accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria.” Speakers: Jessica Blair, Mark Bronstrop, David Six. Go here to register.
- [NEW] 27 May 2020 (online, 2-3p GMT): Global AMR R&D Hub webinar. Title: “How to use the Global AMR R&D Hub’s Dynamic Dashboard”. Speakers: Bersabel Ephrem (Public Health Agency of Canada), Renu Swarup (Ministry of Science & Technology, India), Lyalya Gabbasova (Ministry of Health, Russian Federation), Tim Jinks (Wellcome Trust), Elmar Nimmesgern, (Global AMR R&D Hub). Register here.
- [NEW] 28 May 2020 (online, 7-8a GMT): Global AMR R&D Hub webinar. Title: “How to use the Global AMR R&D Hub’s Dynamic Dashboard”. Speakers: Same as 27 May webinar. Register here.
- 28 May 2020 (online, noon-1p EST): CARB-X webinar. Title: “How to Prepare for an FDA Pre-IND Meeting: Planning for Success.” Speakers: Carmella Moody and Michael Bevilacqua. Go here to register.
- 9 Jun 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Test tube to patient: PK/PD of fixed dose beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations.” Speaker: Vincent Tam. Go here to register.
- 30 Jun 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Clinical development of antimicrobials – Phase 1 development challenges.” Speaker: Markus Zeitlinger. Go here to register.
- 9 Jul 2020 (online, 09:00-10:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “The challenges and opportunities for antimicrobial R&D in low- and middle-income countries – India case study.” Speaker: Anand Anandkumar and Kamini Walla. Go here to register.
- 17 Jul-2 Aug 2020 (Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA): Residential course entitled “Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis.” This 2-week intensive training program has run annually for many years and gets outstanding reviews. Go here for details.
- 29 Jul-2 Aug 2020 (Philadelphia, PA): Small World Initiative Instructor Training Workshop – training for undergraduate professors and high school teachers in wet lab techniques, parallel curricula, pedagogical instruction to engage students in the hunt to find new antibiotics in soil. Go here to register.
- 4 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Development Considerations of Antifungal Drugs to Address Unmet Medical Need.” Go here to register.
- 5 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Developing Antifungal Drugs for the Treatment of Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) Infection.” Go here to register.
- September 2020. University of Sheffield (UK). Applications are being taken for a new 1-year (full-time) or 2-year (part-time) Masters of Science course in Antimicrobial Resistance. The program runs annually from September and covers microbiology, clinical practice and policy. The course webpage is here.
- 9-10 Sep 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
- 22-25 Sep 2020 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Biannual meeting of the MSGERC (Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium). Save-the-date announcement is here, details to follow.
- 26-29 Oct 2020 (Rotterdam), Annual ESPID meeting (European Society for Pediatric ID, #38)
- 10-13 Apr 2021 (Vienna): Annual ECCMID meeting (#31)
- 20-24 June 2021 (Toronto): International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD-12). Go here for details.
- 3-7 Jun 2021 (Anaheim), ASM Microbe 2021. Go here for details.
- 8-11 Oct 2021 (Aberdeen, Scotland): 10th Trends in Medical Mycology. Go here for details.
- 16-24 Oct 2021 (Annecy, France): Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe). This is a soup-to-nuts residential course on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic R&D. The course is very intense, very detailed, and gets rave reviews. Registration is here and is limited to 40 students.