Objective
Antibiotics are essential tools in modern medicine and are indispensable not only for the treatment of infectious diseases but also to support other key interventions such as surgery and cancer chemotherapy. However, the extensive and inappropriate use of antibiotics has fuelled the spread of resistance mechanisms in pathogenic bacteria, leading to the dawn of a post-antibiotic era. Plasmids play a pivotal role in the evolution of antibiotic resistance (AR) because they drive the horizontal transfer of resistance genes between pathogenic bacteria by conjugation. Some of these plasmid-bacterium associations become particularly successful, creating superbugs that spread uncontrollably in clinical settings. The rise of these clones is mainly constricted because plasmids entail a fitness cost when they arrive in a new bacterial host. This cost can be subsequently alleviated through compensatory adaptation during plasmid-bacterium coevolution. Despite the importance of this cost-compensation dynamic in the evolution of plasmid-mediated AR, it remains completely unexplored in clinical contexts. In this project I plan to bridge this gap by exploring the genetic basis underlying the evolution of plasmid-mediated AR in clinically relevant scenarios. We will study, for the first time, the intra-patient transmission, fitness cost and adaptation of AR plasmids in the gut microbiome of hospitalized patients (obj. 1). We will analyse the molecular mechanisms that determine the success of AR plasmids and bacterial clone associations (obj. 2). Finally, we will develop new technology to test how antibiotic treatments affect AR plasmids dynamics in the gut microbiome at an unprecedentedly high-resolution (obj. 3). This ground-breaking project will allow a new understanding of the evolution of plasmid-mediated AR in real life, opening new research avenues and providing a major step towards meeting one of the central challenges facing our society: controlling the spread of AR.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine surgery
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance antibiotic resistance
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2017-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
28006 MADRID
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.