Research
A trans-disciplinary approach to a global problem.
Toward better outcomes for all
Guided by industry, CEAStAR has prioritised 12 distinct research projects that address economically important AMR-related agricultural and environmental sector needs. The solutions proposed leverage the four key CEAStAR themes – Microbiology, Animal Health, Formulation Technology, and Water and Environmental Technology. Each project encompasses at least two themes, ensuring cross-fertilisation of ideas and synergistic benefits.
By bringing together the investigators’ collective expertise supported by exceptional research facilities, CEAStAR will produce highly skilled, industry-ready researchers capable of solving commercial challenges as a result of antimicrobial resistance. The Centre is focused on reducing unnecessary antibiotic use by developing next-generation antimicrobials and alternative approaches to treat animal infection, leading to healtier livestock and improved production.
This will increase Australia’s capacity, capability and competitiveness in the development of antimicrobial therapeutics with animal health and environmental applications.
New Novel Antimicrobials
The impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) extends beyond the use of antibiotics in humans with more than half of global antibiotic use in livestock. AMR is detrimental to animal welfare and adversely impacts agricultural production. The use of antibiotics developed for human use in livestock can contribute to the development of and increase in drug-resistant bacteria, which can then be transmitted from animals to humans via direct contact or through the food chain and the environment in the case of zoonotic pathogens.
There are increasing calls for separate “animal only” drug classes to preserve antibiotics developed for human use and try to curb resistance. Some of the Centre’s projects address this by developing novel compounds with antiprotozoal, antibacterial, and antifungal activity.
Alternatives to Antimicrobials
Other Centre projects will focus on developing alternatives to antimicrobials that improve animal health and their environments. Projects will exploit the antimicrobial properties of natural and synthetic compounds to develop new probiotics and improve gut health, potentially replacing antibiotics as a food supplement growth enhancer while others will develop new products to improve hygiene of sheds and agricultural environments.
Topical bacterial infections are also a significant problem in animals, with non-antibiotic therapies highly desirable. Projects within the Centre will develop effective infection models to demonstrate proof-of-concept efficacy for technologies developed by the industry partners.
Improving Detection, Surveillance and Monitoring of Resistant Bacteria
The urban and industrial water cycle, which connects urban life, agriculture, and the environment, is a potential hotspot for the spread of AMR. Environmental contanimation with antimicrobials, other biocides and drug-resistant bacteria are emitted continuously into the environment from sources such as livestock production, aquaculture, sewage, pharmaceutical manufacturing and urban activities. Therefore, a better understanding of the distribution, transportation, and acquisition of AMR in the urban water cycle is critically important to improve the control of this emerging environmental problem. Projects within CEAStAR will develop sequencing-based methods and a framework for AMR surveillance in the environment.
Research Environment
CEAStAR relies on the complementary research facilities and expertise at The University of Queensland and University of Adelaide. At UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance is one of their research foci. Researchers have access to an exceptional interdisciplinary environments, encompassing synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, with capacity for bacterial culture and screening in dedicated PC2 facilities.
The Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology (ACARE) at UoA focuses on understanding the evolution, ecology, and epidemiology of AMR in microbial pathogens and bacteria of humans, animals, and their environment. The Centre’s program applies a One Health approach, encompassing medical, veterinary, and environmental microbiology and their interrelationships with epidemiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics. They have unique linkages with veterinary diagnostic laboratories and animal industry stakeholders to build relevant veterinary isolate collections utilised for new drug development programs. The veterinary expertise at UoA is complemented by UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation and the School of Veterinary Science.