Title : Eurestop: Advancing diagnosis and treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in Europe
Abstract:
The emergence and spread of drug-resistant bacteria are an important health and socioeconomic threat with global dimensions. Unavailability of drugs and poorly effective diagnostic tools negatively impacts the treatment and survival of critically ill patients. Current research in this field is highly fragmented and monodisciplinary, thus limiting the development of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. The COST Action, EURESTOP, brings together over 500 European scientists from 49 countries with different skills and expertise (industrial and academic) in a multidisciplinary and concerted initiative. The Action combine disciplines such as chemistry, physics, bioinformatics, genetics, biology, immunology, and medicine to understand the genetic and molecular bases of bacterial drug resistance, work on developing innovative diagnostic tools and delivering lead/pre-clinical candidates, antibody-based therapies, and clinical-ready repurposed drugs towards the personalized treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections. Since 2022, the Action has been actively working on three main areas: 1) Genomics-Proteomics-Glycomics and Diagnosis: creating and updating a priority list of the most prevalent and potentially dangerous bacteria and development of novel biosensors for the diagnosis of pathogenic DR bacteria; 2) Microbiology – Microbiota: characterizing the mechanisms of drug resistance at the molecular and cellular levels and elucidating the structural features of proteins or other macromolecules involved in drug resistance and 3) Drug Design and Delivery: designing and synthesizing novel potential agents and immune therapies to counteract DR bacteria and creating the Action’s library of compounds for screening purposes. Additionally, this Action has been actively working to enhance networking among European scientists e.g., by the creation of novel SMEs, by knowledge creation and sharing and training young scientists in multiple aspects related to bacterial drug resistance. The aim of this presentation is to highlight the achievements and ongoing activities of EURESTOP and attract more experts to join the Action to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing.
