Effective RApid DIagnostics and treatment of AntiMicrobial Resistant bacteria

A timely detection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucial in several medical conditions, including sepsis that causes 11 million deaths per year world-wide. The ERADIAMR project will develop effective and rapid diagnostics of AMR in clinical isolates by harnessing the power of a novel interdisciplinary multi-technology approach. We will combine whole genome sequencing and conventional antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) with two emerging and rapid AST technologies, namely nanomotion technology platform and single-cell microfluidics-microscopy. We will apply this new approach to a large collection of clinical isolates of the so called ESKAPE pathogens that are key players in infections, such as sepsis, and are becoming increasingly resistant to conventional antibiotic treatment. By integrating and cross-validating the multi-technology data that we will acquire, we will aim to develop and implement a rapid and effective diagnostic platform that will perform AST and detect AMR within 4 hours and will predict the optimal antibiotic drug and adequate dose for each specific infecting bacterial strain. As such this project will pose a steppingstone for future rapid diagnostics and high throughput, personalised antibiotic treatment optimisation to rapidly overcome AMR.