News from the Medical Research Council

A £13 million jointly funded research programme to help combat anti-microbial resistance (AMR) was announced today between the UK Research Councils (RCUK) and India’s Department for Biotechnology (DBT).

The announcement was made by Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research, and Innovation, during a visit to New Delhi to mark a £13 million collaborative investment in research between the UK and India.

The visit coincides with the launch of the RCUK-DBT UK-India Strategic Group on AMR, which will agree priority areas for RCUK-India research in AMR and develop collaborative approaches across research disciplines to tackle AMR.

The MRC already has a long history of collaborating with India on research into antimicrobial resistance.

Dr Jonathan Pearce, Head of Infections and Immunity at the Medical Research Council said:

'Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global challenge to healthcare and agriculture. Antibiotic overuse and misuse – in agriculture and human medicine – has led to a growing number of bacteria in humans, animals and the environment that are resistant to them. Our response to this challenge has to span nations and disciplines. This new funding will enable the UK RCs and DBT to bring the best of UK and Indian research to bear against the challenge of AMR.'

Full details of the minister’s announcement can be found via RCUK.