16th JPIAMR transnational call for research projects - AMR diagnostics and surveillance 2023 (DISTOMOS)

General Information

• Project title: Rapid AMR diagnostic using optical electrophysiology
• Type: Project looking for partner
• Organisation: Cytecom Ltd
• Country: United Kingdom (UK)
• Career stage: Early Career Researcher (up to 8 years** since PhD).

Research area

• Scientific area(s) of the call:
  1. Topic 1: to develop novel, or improve existing, diagnostics, including point of care diagnostics, that can rule out antimicrobial use or help identify the most effective antimicrobial treatment
• One Health Setting:

  Human Health

• Keywords:

  rapid diagnostic point-of-care microscopy image analysis

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

  Cytecom Ltd is a spinout from University of Warwick that developed a novel method for rapid (minutes) detection and enumaration of live bacterial cells. The method is based on optical electrophysiology. Using timelapse fluorescent microscopy we can distinguish between live, inhibited and dead cells based on the bacterial response to electrical stimulation. We are looking for expertise in image analysis and pattern recognition. We are also seeking statisticians to implement model-based approaches to our current data analysis.

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

  The CyteCount system is a novel technology created by Cytecom. It is the first live-cell imaging system showing that bacterial cell vitality can be determined rapidly using the electrophysiological dynamics. CyteCount is a fully functional minimum viable product which is already in use in R&D settings. In this project, we aim to develop a method for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of Gram-negative pathogens that provides results equivalent to the current pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD)-based clinical standards (EUCAST).

Magdalena Karlikowska

• Organisation: Cytecom Ltd
• Position: CEO
• E-mail: m.karlikowska@cytecom.co.uk
• Phone: 07776336146
• Web: www.cytecom.co.uk