ERA-NET for establishing synergies between the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Horizon 2020

Project Information

JPI-EC-AMR

Grant agreement ID: 681055

DOI

10.3030/681055

Project closed

EC signature date 11 September 2015

Start date 1 November 2015

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being

Total cost

€ 23 812 500,00

EU contribution

€ 7 858 116,00

Coordinated by

VETENSKAPSRADET - SWEDISH RESEARCH COUNCIL
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - JPI-EC-AMR (ERA-NET for establishing synergies between the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Horizon 2020)

Reporting period: 2016-11-01 to 2021-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives from once deadly infectious diseases. However; the overuse, underuse, and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials in both humans and animals have accelerated the selection and emergence of resistant bacteria and fungi.

The ERA-NET JPI-EC-AMR tackled this central challenge of understanding the mechanisms of selection of resistant bacterial clones and their transmission between humans, animals and the environment, in order to design preventive measures to address this public health threat. JPI-EC-AMR was supported by national research funding agencies from the member states of the Joint Programme Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR), and Portugal and Latvia. It has been closely coordinated with the JPI in its implementation of the JPIAMR Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).

JPI-EC-AMR has, including the co-funded call, coordinated, funded and promoted One Health research within 49 research projects and 38 networks supporting 1087 researchers with over 66.7 MEUR in 8 joint trans-national calls. JPI-EC-AMR will generate knowledge on new therapeutics, diagnostics and surveillance methods, on the effect and risk of the use of existing drugs for the selection and transmission of AMR, and on measures to prevent the emergence and spread of AMR between humans, animals and the environment.

JPI-EC-AMR allowed various national funders, researchers and other relevant stakeholders to be engaged and involved in various activities strengthening the ERA and extending international co-operation. Research networks and network activities could be consolidated not only in the member states but globally providing the opportunity to the extensive researchers’ base created to share and exchange knowledge and prepare better to combat the global health and societal challenge of AMR. This will ultimately yield benefits for all countries involved, the ERA and beyond, and will allow for the better management and treatment of infectious diseases in the future.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the Reporting Period 2 the work performed has been centred around the evaluation and funding of proposals responding to the co-funded call with the EC, and the implementation of additional activities within Work Package (WP) 6.

In WP1 a management and coordination framework was implemented for the project, in order to continuously orientate all activities towards the objectives, and to ensure their fulfilment within time plan and budget.

The objective of WP3 was to select the best proposals for funding that were submitted in response to the JPI-EC-AMR co-funded call 2016.

The call awarded 28.5 million euros (EUR) to 19 research projects consortia with a total of 118 researchers from 16 countries. The projects funded under the call were diverse and multidisciplinary, covering transmission in bacteria, food chain, environment, clinical settings etc. and addressed the various objectives of the call and covered various focal areas in terms of a One Health perspective.

In WP4 a “Monitoring policy of JPIAMR funded projects and networks” was developed. It describes the process of the reporting (mid-term, first ex-post and second ex-post), underlines the roles and responsibilities of various groups involved in this activity and also include templates for the various reports. Mid-term and final reports were collected for each of the project funded in the framework of the co-funded call. A detailed report on the research outputs, outcomes and impacts of the projects has been published on https://www.jpiamr.eu/app/uploads/2021/12/AMR-Transmissions-call-2016_Outcomes-report.pdf.

The call and results was widely announced and the results communicated by WP5 via different JPIAMR information channels (including web, twitter, newsletters, promotion materials, and press releases). Dissemination and exploitation activities of JPI-EC-AMR call results were directed at three main target groups: scientific community, policy makers, and the general public. JPI-EC-AMR also produced a scientific online workshop entitled “Interventions to reduce the development and transmission of AMR”, hosted by ANR in collaboration with the JPIAMR with more than 400 participants from 54 countries.

Finally, WP6 “additional activities” aimed to further implementing the JPIAMR Strategic Research Agenda in collaboration with JPIAMR through additional joint transnational calls and other activities.

Seven additional calls were launched by the JPI-EC-AMR. In total 68 projects including 988 researchers were supported with 38.2 million euros. Several seminars and workshops have been organized with the aim to disseminate and exploit call results.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The outputs, outcomes and the impact generated by the projects supported under the “Transmission Dynamics” call indicates what could be achieved by supporting high quality science through transnational research collaborations. The projects resulted in increased understanding of causality and directionality of spread of resistance genes between human, animal and environmental reservoirs with a One Health perspective. The projects have resulted in new knowledge that will inform future models of transmission mechanisms and pathways that open up new approaches for pathogen surveillance that would have great epidemiological and public health importance. Apart from generating data and information, the projects have also resulted in the training of multiple young researchers in state-of-the-art laboratories, on theoretical, and/or computational approaches to studying AMR as well in microbiology, informatics, statistics and modelling.

New knowledge generation to address AMR at regional, national and global scale with One Health approach.

Since AMR is a worldwide issue, it is of importance to extend research activities outside of the European/North American research area and include LMICs. HECTOR used a One Health approach including whole genome sequencing of a large collection of E. coli isolates from human, animal and environmental sources in different geographic areas across Europe and in Vietnam. In addition, STARCS, performed a One Health study in Hanoi, Vietnam and highlighted the high prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pig and chicken farms and the high risk of environmental contamination in small-scale slaughterhouses.

The Call on Diagnostics and Surveillance 2019 funded joint transnational research projects addressing the development of diagnostic and surveillance tools, technologies and methods to detect AMR for global use. The call included and mobilised funding from the developing aid agencies IDRC, Canada to support researchers from China and specified low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Asia, and SIDA, Sweden to support researchers in low income countries in Africa. Total 14 researchers from LMICs like, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Togo, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Madagascar and Gambia were funded in the call to perform AMR research with One Health perspective.

JPI-EC-AMR objectives