This free event will include a lecture on Medical Innovation and AMR research at the University of Southampton, followed by a light supper, drinks and a networking opportunities with peers and academics.
Antibiotics, our best defence against infectious diseases, are becoming less and less effective. Experts predict that by 2050 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will cause as many deaths per year as cancer.
At Southampton, we have a strong track-record of innovating in the face of impossible odds. During COVID-19 we conducted vaccine trials, pioneered saliva testing for asymptomatic cases, and enabled rapid point-of-care testing to reduce diagnosis time. Our experts also developed the PeRSo hood, a cost-effective and comfortable piece of PPE which protected key workers.
Rapid, accurate and early diagnosis of infectious disease is the key to combatting the global threat of AMR and preventing another pandemic. At this exclusive, free event, you will hear from the pioneering scientists who are working on this challenge, and hear about the innovative rapid-diagnostic tool, iFAST. Professors Robert Read and Hywel Morgan will explain how iFAST ensures that the right drug is prescribed at the right time, stopping disease in its tracks.
Host:
Professor Diana Eccles is Dean of Medicine at the University of Southampton and a clinical geneticist with a sub-specialty interest in cancer.
Professor Eccles’ background is in molecular genetics and genetic epidemiology and her research focuses on genetic predisposition to cancer and management of hereditary breast cancer.
Speakers:
Professor Hywel Morgan MBE is Professor of Bioelectronics in the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS). His research interests are in microfluidics, bio-sensors and lab-on-a-chip technologies.
Professor Morgan was awarded an MBE for services to Biomedical Engineering in 2020. This honour celebrates his contribution as one of the lead developers of a pioneering protective respirator, known as PeRSo, that now has HSE approval for use in healthcare during the pandemic.
Professor Paul Elkington MBE is Director of Institute for Medical Innovation and a clinician scientist with a subspecialty interest in tuberculosis. Paul leads the tuberculosis research group, studying an infection that continues to kill four thousand people every day.
Professor Elkington was awarded an MBE for services to medicine in 2020 in recognition of his work to lead the development the protective respirator, PeRSo, for healthcare staff tackling COVID-19 on the frontline.
Professor Robert Read is Professor of Infectious Diseases and Honorary Consultant Physician at the University of Southampton, and Southampton General Hospital.
Professor Read is particularly interested in how infectious diseases develop and how they can be prevented, and is Editor in Chief of both the Journal of Infection and Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases.
