Breaking our links with antibiotic resistant bacteria

Itziar Alkorta, degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD (UPV/EHU). She did a postdoctoral stay at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, she is a lecturer in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dept, UPV/EHU. She directs a research group focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of bacterial conjugation to provide solutions to the problem of the spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria. She has supervised numerous doctoral theses, master thesis and graduate works. Shee has written nearly 120 scientific and science dissemination articles, and she has led and participated in numerous research projects. She has been director of the Biofisika Institute (UPV/EHU, CSIC), Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology and member of the Board Committee of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Since 2017 she is a member of AKADEME II. Currently, she is the coordinator of the Joint Research Laboratory on Environmental Antibiotic Resistance and the Director of the General Research Services (SGIker) of the UPV/EHU.

Nestor Etxebarria, Doctor CC Químicas (1993, UPV/EHU), Catedrático (2011, UPV/EHU) y actualmente director del Dpto Química Analítica. Pertenezco al grupo de investigación IBeA (www.ehu.eus/Ibea). También formo parte de la Estación Marina de Plentzia (PiE, www.ehu.eus/PIE). He investigado sobre química en disolución (Tesis Doctoral), implementación del análisis por activación neutrónica para el control de producción de materiales de referencia (postdoct en JRC-IRMM, Bélgica) y sobre análisis ambiental de contaminantes orgánicos y en ecotoxicología ambiental (actualidad). Soy coautor de más de 130 publicaciones científicas e investigador principal de 3 proyectos de la Agencia Nacional de Investigación. He dirigido 13 tesis doctorales y más de 25 tesis de máster. Soy coautor de cuatro libros de texto universitarios y fui coordinador del grado de Química (2008-2011) y actualmente pertenezco al comité académico del Erasmus Mundus Master in Marine Environment and Resource.

Lucía Gallego, Graduated in Medicine and Surgery, Master in Recombinant DNA Technology, PhD in Medicine and Surgery. Prof. of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine & Nursing, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. Representative of the Faculty of Medicine & Nursing in the National Plan Against Antibiotic Resistance (PRAN) of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS). Head of the Acinetobacter baumannii Research Group working on the study of antibiotic resistance and its dissemination through mobile genetic elements among clinical isolates causing serious hospital-acquired infections that have become a worldwide threat as multidrug-resistant isolates have dramatically risen worldwide. Collaborations with international groups from Germany, Egypt, Bolivia and UK, Author of 53 international publications, 9 book chapters, 79 international congress. Participation in 54 research projects, 28 as PI. Supervisor of 12 PhD, 12 MSc, 16 undergraduates, 6 OWSD mentoring

Dr. Garbisu is the Scientific Director at NEIKER, The Basque Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (Spain), where he leads the Soil Microbial Ecology Group (http://www.soilmicrobialecology.com). He obtained his PhD degree in Biology at King’s College London (1992). Then, he carried out postdoctoral studies in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of the Basque Country (1992-1993, 1996-1997) and in the Department of Plant Biology of the University of California at Berkeley (1993-1996). He has published more than 135 international papers (h-index=42), participated in more than 70 research projects, and taught a great deal of courses at the university level. He has participated in many scientific committees and acted as project evaluator for many organizations.

Dr. Olof Lindahl is an Associate Professor in International Business and works at the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University. Lindahl is also a member of the management team at the Uppsala Antibiotic Center. His research interests concern: - Innovation in the antibiotic industry, particularly in relation to economic policy interventions in firms’ new economic models to incentivize innovation in antibiotics. - Technology transfer - international diffusion of diagnostic tools for bacterial infections. - Policy interventions to tie incentives for antibiotic R&D to models ensuring the responsible use of new drugs. Presently, Lindahl is the leader of ‘iDX: An Exploration of Regulatory, Corporate, Relational, and Technical Barriers to Supply and Global Use of Diagnostics in the Fight Against AMR’ funded by the JPIAMR. This multidisciplinary consortium involves partners from Uppsala University, University of Cape Town, Karolinska Institute, Université Laval and the BEAM Alliance.

Prof. Sanz holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Universidad de Valencia (1991) and has expertise in several scientific areas like Ecophysiology, Air pollution effects, lower and higher plants, Atmospheric dynamics and chemistry, Nitrogen and carbon cycles, Greenhouse Gasses and other related gases, Greenhouse gas inventories, LULUCF and REDD+. She has been strongly involved in the policy dimension of Climate Change, guiding political decisions carried out at centres such as the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation) or the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). She has an expertise on multilateral processes, regulatory frameworks, policy measures and instruments of Climate Change Policy, and led the implementation of different programmes with a multidisciplinary-based approach.

Peter holds a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from 2014. His work studies the intersection of sustainable development and (re-)emerging infectious diseases with a special focus on antibiotic resistance. Since 2019, he leads the research group on global health at the Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and is theme leader of Anthropocene Dynamics at the sustainability science hub Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and is affiliated with the Uppsala Antibiotic Centre at Uppsala University. He is currently the PI of an ERC starting grant INFLUX – Emerging pests and pathogens as a novel lens for unravelling social-ecological cascades (2022-2027) and has led two successful international consortia on the links between AMR and sustainable development. His work has been featured in Nature, Science, PNAS and the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Manu Soto. Professor of Cell Biology (2011, UPV/EHU) and since 2012 Deputy Director of the Plentzia Marine Station (UPV/EHU). Researcher of the Consolidated Research Group on Cell Biology in Environmental Toxicology. European doctoral thesis (1995, UPV/EHU). Studies at University College of Wales, Univ of Innsbruck, Univ Azores and Univ of Wales. He has supervised 7 PhD theses (+3 in progress), master's thesis (18) and bachelor's thesis (7). Interest in the development and application of biomarkers against exposure to metals in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. More than 100 scientific publications and more than 200 contributions in national and international conferences. He has coordinated research projects financed by the Ministry of Education, Economy, Competitiveness, University of the Basque Country, Basque Government, and contracts with municipalities, local and state environmental agencies and private companies. Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (2006-2012).