Antibiotic resistance is considered one of the most important threats for human health in the coming decades. Increasing usage of these agents (appropriate and inappropriate) fuels this emerging problem, and solutions through availibility of new classes of antibiotic classes seem unrealistic, at least in the short term. Better understanding the molecular epidemiology of antibiotic resistance is needed to design (cost-) effective control strategies. In addition, prevention of nosocomial infections will also reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance for mankind. These research topics are addressed in a wide variety of scienitfic disciplines, ranging from molecular biology to mathematical modelling. The epidemiological studies of this research line are partly based within the
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care.
Prof.dr. M.J.M. Bonten was awarded a
NWO VICI grant (
www.nwo.nl) in 2006 to further integrate molecular biology and mathematical modelling in the studies of antibiotic resistance. Dr. W. van Schaik ('De geheimen van een ziekenhuis-bacterie ontsluierd') and Dr. M. Bootsma ('Wiskunde voor infectieziektenbestrijding') were awarded a
NWO VENI grant in 2007, and Dr. H. Leavis (Changing the lifestyle of Enterococcus faecium) in 2009.
Dr. R.J.L. Willems and Dr. W. van Schaik were awarded an
EU FP7 grant ("Evolution and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance";
EvoTAR) in 2011. The EvoTAR consortium consists of 17 partners in seven European countries and is coordinated by the UMC Utrecht.