University of Leicester joins launch of AMAST Network to battle AMR in the agrifood system

A new network is setting sail to understand and tackle how antimicrobial resistance impacts UK food production from farm to fork. AMAST – the AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary Network - has been created to harness perspectives from across agrifood stakeholders and prepare new ways to tackle these challenges. 

The University of Leicester is a partner in this exciting network whose purpose is to combat antimicrobial resistance. Leicester’s work will help to identify AMR risks, methods for managing this risk and, most importantly, address what are the barriers to action that exist within communities that grow crops, produce meat and fish, process raw materials into consumable foods, manufacture and distribute goods, and supply clean potable water to our homes and businesses.

Antimicrobial resistance, where microbes becoming resistant to the medicines we use to control them, presents a major threat to society and our ability to prevent or cure disease is threatened in the future.

National and international governments and health agencies are taking action to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is now supporting eight new transdisciplinary networks to tackle AMR.  

The AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary (AMAST) Network has been established to understand the challenge of AMR in the UK’s agrifood system. AMAST will receive ca. £650,000 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding as part of its work to tackle infections.

The network will be co-ordinated by Dr Matthew Gilmour, based at the Quadram Institute, with an international expert advisory panel providing oversight. 

“We’re really excited to be part of this new community. The agrifood system is incredibly complex with a diverse community of key players that are involved in the production of safe and nutritious foods.  So understanding the challenges of AMR requires a non-traditional approach,” said Dr Gilmour.

Dr John Pearl from the University of Leicester Department of Respiratory Sciences, who is the AMAST network’s partner for stakeholder mapping and demographics, said: “The University of Leicester is an ideal partner for this transdisciplinary network because we can leverage our cultural and scientific diversity to enhance engagement within the range of communities in which we will work. I’m personally committed to delivering common-sense solutions to help prevent the spread of AMR through our farms and livestock producers and within our water systems. This award is a perfect fit for my research program where we focus on the possibility of inadvertent bioamplification of pulmonary pathogens within various environments.

“We are committed to linking experts in precision health and clinical medicine to fundamental researchers with an aim to deliver evidence-based knowledge to our diverse constituency within the agri-food sector.”

AMAST will, for the first time, bring together various agrifood communities with academic researchers from different disciplines, to identify from the bottom up the challenges AMR poses within agrifood, and then collaborate to develop solutions. 

The AMAST Network will involve members from different agrifood production systems, such as crop, livestock and aquaculture, from primary production through to the consumer. It will also bring in transdisciplinary academics, including bioscientists and social scientists as well as other areas that may not have previously engaged with AMR as a challenge. 

The AMAST Leadership Team is made up of the Quadram Institute, Newcastle University, Royal Veterinary College, University of Stirling, Royal Holloway University of London, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Royal Agricultural University, Scotland’s Rural College, University of Bristol, University of Leicester and University of Southampton. Partners on board the AMAST Network include ADAS, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, CAB International (CABI), The Environmental Research Institute (University of Highlands and Islands), the FAI Farms, Fera Science, the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA), Menter a Busnes, NHS Highland, Ricardo, UK Agri-Tech Centre and Vet Sustain.

Through interviews, workshops and themed community meetings, all members of the network will be able to bring their perspectives on the key threats of AMR in agrifood. The network will collectively identify and prioritise areas of opportunity, as well as understanding where more research is needed to plug gaps in our understanding. 

• Visit the website or contact AMAST@quadram.ac.uk to find out more and sign up to the Network