Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance is Central Topic of First Eurolife Summer School at the University of Barcelona

Combating the spread of resistance to antimicrobial drugs—an issue that has become a priority for global health—depends, among other things, on a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of resistance, the availability of rapid diagnostic tools, and the development of novel antibiotics. It was to further these three aims that ISGlobal, an institute supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, organised the Eurolife International Summer School “Antimicrobial Drug Resistance—Research and Innovation”. The course, which was held at the University of Barcelona from 10-14 July, was organised by Jordi Vila, director of ISGlobal's Antimicrobial Resistance Initiative.

The Summer School, which ended on Friday 14 July, was the first course held at the University of Barcelona (UB) to be funded by the European Network of Universities of Life Sciences (Eurolife). The UB is one of the nine universities in the Eurolife network. During the five-day course, 35 students from 14 different countries shared and updated their knowledge about resistance to antimicrobial drugs, a critical threat to global health that has the entire scientific community on red alert and led all 193 members of the United Nations to sign a global accord to tackle the problem less than a year ago.

“Our aim is to contribute to the scientific training of young researchers by providing them with knowledge on the most important areas of research in this field and the challenges posed worldwide by antimicrobial resistance," said Clara Ballesté, the course coordinator and the Antimicrobial Resistance Initiative coordinator.

The participants—MSc and PhD students—came together with a group of teachers with expertise in the subject matter in the Manuel Corachán lecture hall in the University of Barcelona, where they discussed the issues involved and sought to foster synergies and collaborative work on the molecular basis of antimicrobial resistance, effective antibiotic regimens, rapid diagnostic techniques, the development of new antimicrobials, innovation, and the translation of emerging knowledge to clinical practice and health care.