Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has announced today (Tuesday, May 21) awards of €750,000 for research in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Three projects will receive the funding following a call for proposals under the European joint programming initiative on AMR.
The projects include Irish scientists from Teagasc, Maynooth University and University College Dublin, collaborating with multiple European Research Performing Organisations.
Announcing the awards, Minister Heydon said: “The funding I am announcing today for these three projects will support Irish researchers to work with other scientists across Europe to develop solutions that will help us in combating the growing global threat of antimicrobial resistance.”
AMR projects
The research will investigate the development of innovative strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for diagnostics and surveillance of AMR of the most critical pathogens affecting plants and animals.
One of the projects will examine the aerobiome based genomic surveillance of fungicide resistance to track the development and spread of AMR in plant pathogens.
Another will look at harnessing long-read sequencing for an analytical, indicator and risk assessment framework.
The third project will research informing genomic surveillance by uncovering, phenotyping and prioritising resistance genes to new antibiotics.
EU research call
Minister Heydon also launched the opening of a new European research call in the areas of animal health and welfare.
“The European Partnership for Animal Health and Welfare is the second of the new European research partnerships being rolled out under Horizon Europe following the launch of the Agroecology Partnership last month,” Minister Heydon said.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is committing €1 million to enable Irish research involvement in the initiative.
“This is important for us as it will allow research in areas such as technologies for prevention, detection, assessment, and management of animal health and welfare,” the minister added.