Periodic Reporting for period 3 - COMBINE (Collaboration for Prevention and Treatmentof MDR Bacterial Infections)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-11-01 al 2022-10-31
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (such as bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat infectious diseases, which results in prolonged illness, disability, and death. The AMR Accelerator was created to respond to the challenge of developing new treatment and prevention approaches to AMR infections. More than 90 partners are involved in the AMR Accelerator in nine different projects. The COMBINE project supports the coordination of the Accelerator projects. Additionally, COMBINE will propose innovative methods to optimize preclinical and clinical research for the development of products against AMR infections.
Coordinating the AMR Accelerator: In Period 3 of the project, COMBINE has continued to coordinate support to the AMR Accelerator projects via cross-project interactions including the Coordination Committee, the Data Management Group, the Ethics Advisory Board, the Communication Advisory Board, and the Communication Champions Team. COMBINE also organised specific cross-project events to bring the different projects and partners together to promote scientific engagement, to ensure learnings and best practices are shared, and to identify synergies which may drive faster project progress. These events include the first in person cross-project meeting in April 2022, with a day-long event of workshops, project pitches, and individual project meetings, and two TB-focused webinars in March and September 2022, to get the most recent update of ongoing TB research within the AMR Accelerator and to facilitate cross-project panel discussion on topics of interest to all TB projects. During Period 3, COMBINE integrated the ninth project, Primavera, into the AMR Accelerator, introducing this consortium to the AMR Accelerator family, supporting start up activities, and highlighting the ambitious plans of this project to the external AMR community.
Achieving effective management of scientific data: COMBINE has developed a robust data management process and will continue to improve on this process. The software developed within COMBINE will support a wide range of data formats, from simple office documents and chemical structures to preclinical and clinical data sets, while retaining compatibility with all common operating systems. To facilitate data management, a cloud based electronic lab notebook system has been introduced by COMBINE for collection, analysis, storage and management of results at AMR Accelerator partner sites. This is complemented by a central data repository for sharing, aggregating, integrating and analysing data. Documentation covering data governance, quality, access, and analysis procedures has been developed and shared with the projects within the Accelerator. During period 3, COMBINE has continued to support data management across the AMR Accelerator, streamlining data governance in the projects and oversees the implementation of FAIR processes and software tools to support the day-to-day operation of individual AMR Accelerator projects. In particular, in Period 3, COMBINE has developed a new AMR BioAssay ontology that will enable researchers to convert unstructured bioassay protocol data into structured machine-readable formats, thereby promoting their overall reusability.
Managing the communication: COMBINE works to strengthen the interaction between AMR Accelerator participants and AMR stakeholders across the EU and globally. COMBINE has established a strong AMR Accelerator identity, with project logos and an engaging and informative joint website. In Period 3 of the project, COMBINE has promoted the AMR Accelerator to the external scientific community and the general public, using social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, maintaining and updating the AMR Accelerator website, producing communication materials (including videos, flyers, fact sheet, conference roll-ups, slide decks, poster template) to inform about the AMR Accelerator programme and raise awareness of project activities, and publishing two editions of an AMR Accelerator external newsletter.
Improving clinical trials and standardising an animal infection model: In terms of the scientific goals of the project, COMBINE has progressed towards the capability building objectives of the project. With the aim to identify promising strategies to improve translation from preclinical models to successful clinical trials for products against AMR infections, common problems in the preclinical (including animal infection models) and clinical development of vaccines and antibiotics have been collected. The results of the vaccine expert workshop, held during Period 2, have been presented at external workshops and conferences, and a paper presenting the results has been published. An expert workshop on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for AMR pathogens was organised in June 2022. Two manuscripts on the developed pneumonia model and experimental variables have been published, and results have been presented at external meetings.
Achieving effective management of scientific data: COMBINE has developed a robust data management process and will continue to improve on this process. The software developed within COMBINE will support a wide range of data formats, from simple office documents and chemical structures to preclinical and clinical data sets, while retaining compatibility with all common operating systems. To facilitate data management, a cloud based electronic lab notebook system has been introduced by COMBINE for collection, analysis, storage and management of results at AMR Accelerator partner sites. This is complemented by a central data repository for sharing, aggregating, integrating and analysing data. Documentation covering data governance, quality, access, and analysis procedures has been developed and shared with the projects within the Accelerator. During period 3, COMBINE has continued to support data management across the AMR Accelerator, streamlining data governance in the projects and oversees the implementation of FAIR processes and software tools to support the day-to-day operation of individual AMR Accelerator projects. In particular, in Period 3, COMBINE has developed a new AMR BioAssay ontology that will enable researchers to convert unstructured bioassay protocol data into structured machine-readable formats, thereby promoting their overall reusability.
Managing the communication: COMBINE works to strengthen the interaction between AMR Accelerator participants and AMR stakeholders across the EU and globally. COMBINE has established a strong AMR Accelerator identity, with project logos and an engaging and informative joint website. In Period 3 of the project, COMBINE has promoted the AMR Accelerator to the external scientific community and the general public, using social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, maintaining and updating the AMR Accelerator website, producing communication materials (including videos, flyers, fact sheet, conference roll-ups, slide decks, poster template) to inform about the AMR Accelerator programme and raise awareness of project activities, and publishing two editions of an AMR Accelerator external newsletter.
Improving clinical trials and standardising an animal infection model: In terms of the scientific goals of the project, COMBINE has progressed towards the capability building objectives of the project. With the aim to identify promising strategies to improve translation from preclinical models to successful clinical trials for products against AMR infections, common problems in the preclinical (including animal infection models) and clinical development of vaccines and antibiotics have been collected. The results of the vaccine expert workshop, held during Period 2, have been presented at external workshops and conferences, and a paper presenting the results has been published. An expert workshop on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for AMR pathogens was organised in June 2022. Two manuscripts on the developed pneumonia model and experimental variables have been published, and results have been presented at external meetings.
Expected results until the end of the project and potential impacts:
Network: A knowledge base and interpersonal network will develop between AMR Accelerator participants and AMR stakeholders across the EU and globally, which will be important for future contacts and potential collaborations in the AMR community. COMBINE will be instrumental in ensuring that these ties will remain.
Improving clinical trials and standardising animal models: COMBINE will contribute to improve design of clinical trials and develop more predictive and reliable infection models for preclinical studies, to accelerate antibacterial drug and vaccine development.
Network: A knowledge base and interpersonal network will develop between AMR Accelerator participants and AMR stakeholders across the EU and globally, which will be important for future contacts and potential collaborations in the AMR community. COMBINE will be instrumental in ensuring that these ties will remain.
Improving clinical trials and standardising animal models: COMBINE will contribute to improve design of clinical trials and develop more predictive and reliable infection models for preclinical studies, to accelerate antibacterial drug and vaccine development.