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Since 2020, Margo Diricks has been conducting research on non-tuberculous mycobacteria at the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center. Using genome sequencing and bioinformatics, she investigates the distribution, genetic diversity, transmission routes and antibiotic resistance patterns of these bacteria.
Dr Pau de Yebra Rodó conducted research into antibiotic resistance in lakes, wastewater and livestock farming as part of the research alliance Leibniz INFECTIONS. In October 2026, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Potsdam. The thesis demonstrates how water bodies, sewage treatment plants and pig farming can contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. The findings underscore the importance of an integrated One Health approach, which considers the health of humans, animals and the environment as a whole.
Migration has increased the genetic diversity of TB bacteria in Hamburg. Local transmission, however, has continued to be driven mainly by established strains. These findings are revealed in a long-term study recently published in Genome Medicine.
How do resistant strains of tuberculosis develop and spread? One of the largest genomic studies of tuberculosis in Ukraine to date shows that a large number of drug-resistant pathogens belong to just a few, closely related groups of pathogens. The findings highlight the importance of continuous genomic surveillance of tuberculosis and other antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Prof. Dr Stefan Niemann from the Research Alliance Leibniz INFECTIONS was involved in the study.
INFECTIONS researcher Dr. ir. Margo Diricks from the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB) has been awarded the 2026 Gertrud Meissner Prize. The award recognizes her outstanding work in the field of mycobacteriology.