JPIAMR 13th Call Partner Search Tool

General Information

• Type: Partner looking for project
• Organisation: Osaka City University, Graduate School of Medicine
• Country: Japan (JP)

Research area

• Scientific area(s):
  1. Understand the impact of interventions on development and transmission of AMR
  2. Design, implement, evaluate, and compare innovative interventions to control the development and transmission of AMR
• One Health Setting:

  Human Health

• Keywords:

  Kenya; Democratic Republic of the Congo; MRSA; VRE; CRE

• Brief description of your expertise / expertise you are looking for:

  Our team is composed of medical doctors and scientists. We are working on molecular epidemiological analysis of bacterial pathogens, investigation of their drug resistance mechanisms, and developing new diagnosis and treatment strategies. We have expertise in the following research or clinical fields. Bacteriological tests and investigation of various pathogenic bacteria, including glucose non-fermentative bacteria and mycobacteria. Basic molecular biological experiments, such as recombination-based genome engineering, expression and purification of proteins, and immunoassays represented by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Bacterial genome and transcriptome analyses using next-generation sequencers (MinlON, MiSeq, etc.). Metagenomic analysis of environmental samples (Including data analysis using python script). Infection control practices in a tertiary hospital. Medical education on infectious diseases and infection control strategies. 　In addition, we have our own research base and connection with local medical personnel in Kenya and Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is one of our advantages in conducting research in these countries.

• Brief description of your project / the project you would like to join:

  　We would like to join projects aiming to reveal epidemic status of AMR and to evaluate effectiveness of strategies to prevent the spread of AMR in Africa. In particular, we are considering conducting the following research as a consortium member. 1. Grasping epidemic status of AMR in Africa 　There has always been a lack of information on epidemiological status of AMR in Africa. We do not even know what resistance genes are prevalent among bacterial pathogens. We are thus planning to conduct an AMR distribution survey on clinical isolates from local hospitals and samples from living environment, including drinking water, sewerage, and food. We are especially focusing on the following clinically important pathogens. ・Gram-positive bacteria: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) ・Gram-negative bacteria: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter (MDRA), carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), Multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa (MDRP) Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella Paratyphi A, and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli ・Mycobacteria and fungi: Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-Tb), extensively drug-resistant M. tuberculosis (XDR-Tb), Candida auris 　We plan to investigate how often these AMR pathogens are isolated from clinical and environment samples, as well as to reveal the prevalence status of resistance factors using PCR and gene sequencing techniques. 2. Grasping the usage status of antimicrobials and verifying the effect of interventions. 　Although proper use of antimicrobials is essential to prevent the emergence of AMR, it is not easy to achieve in some African countries, where people commonly obtain and use antimicrobials over-the-counter (OCT) without prescription. Further, counterfeit drugs of poor quality are circulating in the market. Therefore, we would like to carry out drug monitoring and attitude survey on antimicrobial stewardship aimed at local pharmacies and medical institutions. In particular, we plan to first investigate the distribution and usage of drugs in pharmacies and medical institutions; and then analyze composition and purity of individual drugs. We would also like to carry out questionnaire survey for civilians, doctors and pharmacists to examine their knowledge and awareness of AMR. Finally, aiming at some medical institutions, we would like to perform interventions by introducing some laboratory equipment and consumables for monitoring AMR, as well as by giving them education on infection control and antimicrobial stewardship, to evaluate their effectiveness.

Yukihiro Kaneko

• Organisation: Osaka City University, Graduate School of Medicine
• Position: Professor
• E-mail: ykaneko@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
• Phone: +81-6-6634-3745
• Web: www.med.osaka-cu.ac.jp/bacteriology/