Our One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance.

Professor William Gaze

Professor William Gaze is a Professor of Microbiology at The European Centre for Environment and Human Health, part of the University of Exeter Medical School. He leads a large research group focusing on the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with recent and current funding of £4M with over 20 group members. His group researches the evolution of resistance in complex microbial communities found in human, animal and environmental microbiomes. They also study the dissemination of AMR at a landscape scale and human exposure and transmission in aquatic environments.

Professor Gaze’s expertise is recognised globally, as evidenced by his numerous invited presentations across Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa over the past few years. He gives particular focus to interactions with stakeholders from government, regulators, and industry through two NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowships awarded to him in 2019 and 2021. He advises the United Nations, World Health Organisation, UK, and overseas governments on AMR.

Professor Gaze also plays a significant role in academic leadership. He is a member of the University Senate, departmental leadership team, and the GW4 AMR Alliance Steering Committee. He is a co-lead of the Exeter Microbes & Society network of over 300 researchers across all three faculties.

Professor Adilia Warris

Adilia Warris is a Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases and a Co-Director of the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter, as well as a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases in Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Her research profile has a strong translational focus, and specific areas of interest include antifungal resistance, antifungal stewardship, and host-fungus interactions.

Adilia chairs the Fungal Infection Working Group within PENTA Child Health through which post-graduate courses in Paediatric Mycology are coordinated as well as multi-centre European studies to obtain a better insight in the fungal and clinical epidemiology of fungal infections in neonates and children, and antifungal prescribing patterns.

Dr Stefano Pagliara

Stefano Pagliara is Professor of Membrane Transport in AMR at the University of Exeter. His research is focused on understanding how microbial cells interact with their environment both as a community and as individual cells with an emphasis on the transport of antibiotic molecules across bacterial membranes.

Besides standard microbiology techniques and omics approaches, his group develops bespoke microfluidic devices that enable us to accurately control the microenvironment surrounding the cells and measure antibiotic accumulation and efficacy on the very same cell. These cutting-edge capabilities allow his work to shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning AMR and to discover new therapies based on combinations of antibiotic molecules and bacteriophages.

Dr Anne Leonard

Dr Anne Leonard is an environmental epidemiologist and microbiologist working across disciplines to understand the presence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in natural environments, and the impact on human health resulting from exposure to resistant bacteria in natural environments.

Anne joined the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in 2013 to undertake a PhD in Medical Sciences. After completing her PhD in 2016, she conducted research with the University of Exeter and the Chinese University of Hong Kong into antibiotic resistant bacteria in coastal bathing waters in Hong Kong. Following on from this, she was awarded an Industrial Innovation Fellowship by the Natural Environment Research Council into quantifying the contributing that landscape-scale processes make to the transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria in coastal bathing waters.

Dr Jehangir Cama

Dr Jehangir Cama is a biophysicist specialising in the development of microfluidic techniques for quantitative biology and biosensing. His expertise focuses on assay development for antibiotic research, focusing on novel techniques to facilitate the rational design of next-generation antibiotics. As well as this, Jehangir is interested in the application of biomedical research to policy and industry.

He jointly initiated and led the development of a strategic partnership agreement between the University of Exeter and the Medicines Discovery Catapult to facilitate the clinical translation of biomedical research. Also fostering interdisciplinary partnerships across the academic, charity and development sectors to tackle the policy aspects of antimicrobial resistance.