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ASSOCIATED PROJECTS 

>     MEDIcow – Individualised mastitis risk assessment in dairy farming through sensors, digitalisation and artificial intelligence <     MEDIcow – Individualised mastitis risk assessment in dairy farming through sensors, digitalisation and artificial intelligence

MEDIcow – Individualised mastitis risk assessment in dairy farming through sensors, digitalisation and artificial intelligence

The aim of the German-Irish cooperation project MEDICow is to develop a tool for early, individualised mastitis detection for dairy cows based on a multisensory approach. With the help of various methods from the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a highly sensitive mastitis risk assessment is to be made possible, thus significantly shortening the time between infection and treatment. As part of the project, the newly developed molecular mastitis detection methods are also to be tested and included in the project if they are suitable as a rapid test. A real-time decision support model is then to be developed based on the linking of sensor and analysis data. By linking historical data with current data in the form of neural networks and other AI methods, it should also be possible to issue warnings about animals at particular risk of disease. The inclusion of Irish udder health data should provide information on the influence of various husbandry conditions and weather influences on udder health. The MEDICow model should also be applicable to dairy farms with conventional milking technology.

Start:   01.11.2021
End:     31.10.2024

Coordinating Institute

  • Leibniz Institute for Agriculture Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB)

Coordination

Partners

  • Teagasc
  • Freie Universität Berlin
  • German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH)

Projectteam ATB

Further information can be found here.

 

 

>     ENVIRE - Interventions to control the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance from chickens through the environment <     ENVIRE - Interventions to control the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance from chickens through the environment

ENVIRE - Interventions to control the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance from chickens through the environment

We will carry out intervention studies, either as an experiment or in chicken farms. We will test, which interventions are most effective and feasible: i) Antibiotic-free raising of chickens, ii) Treatment with medicinal plants as alternative for antibiotics, iii) vaccination against the bacterium Escherichia coli, iv) Application of bacteriophages that infiltrate and destroy bacteria, v) Treatment or long storage of manure, vi) Treatment of farm effluents to remove antibiotics and their residues.

Focus will be laid on certain bacteria that are widely distributed, and on certain resistances that can harm human health (e.g. so-called ESBL). A mathematical risk assessment model will be developed and used to assess the effectiveness as well as potential synergistic effects of the interventions, to reduce human exposure via the foodborne, occupational and environmental pathways. Data already available for the participating countries will be included in the model, and new, essential data will be generated within the studies. As a result, specific as well as general interventions will be identified that have the potential to reduce AMR in chicken and in the environment of chicken farms for Europe and Tunisia. To achieve this, six working groups from Germany, France, Lithuania, Poland, and Tunisia, bundle their leading expertise for the respective issue. 

 

Project partners

  • Roswitha Merle, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (Coordinator)
  • Lucie Collineau, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, France
  • Mindaugas Malakauskas, Veterinary Academy of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
  • Marta Kuzminska-Bajor, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland
  • Wejdene Mansour, University of Sousse, Tunisia
  • Tina Kabelitz, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, Germany

Further information can be found  here.

 

>     Vitality-establishing wheter supplementation with vitamin D and calcium optimises muscolosketal health among peripubertal children with HIV (CWH) <     Vitality-establishing wheter supplementation with vitamin D and calcium optimises muscolosketal health among peripubertal children with HIV (CWH)

Vitality- establishing whether supplementation with vitamin D and calcium optimises muscolosketal health among peripubertal children with HIV (CWH)

One of the adverse effects of the HIV infection among children are bone deficiencies (skeletal development). Therefore, the purpose of the VITALITY study is to establish whether supplementation with vitamin D3 (weekly) and calcium carbonate (daily) improves musculoskeletal health among peripubertal CWH (children living with HIV) aged 10-19 years in Zambia and Zimbabwe, over a period of 48 weeks. In addition to this, the study will also investigate the intervention's effect on muscle mass and strength and to determine the sustainability of the intervention's effects by performing a follow-up at 96 weeks after the supplementation period.

Start:  2020
End:    2025

Principal Investigator: Professor Rashida Ferrand

Funders: European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)

Project partners

 

>     Economic inequality and corruption: access to antibiotics and utilization incentives<     Economic inequality and corruption: access to antibiotics and utilization incentives

Economic inequality and corruption: access to antibiotics and utilization incentives

In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), high levels of prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) seem to be associated with high levels of corruption in healthcare delivery systems. This observation raises the question whether such corruption can be identified as a significant risk factor that contributes to the spread of AMR. In addition, it calls for clarification as to whether corruption, by undermining the principle of equal access to healthcare, might thwart the effectiveness of policies that are successful in curbing the spread of AMR in less corrupt settings.

Against this background, the Global Health Research Group at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) aims to:

  • produce new quantitative evidence for the influence of corruption on the spread of AMR amid the substantial economic inequality that characterizes many LMICs;
  • develop an analytical economic model that can explain the influence of corruption and economic inequality on the utilization of antibiotics in human healthcare, predict deviations from optimal patterns of use, and be used for the evaluation of policy strategies;
  • develop novel strategies that international organizations, such as the World Health Organization or the Global Fund, can use to help curb the spread of AMR in countries with endemic corruption in their healthcare delivery systems – without restricting essential access to antibiotics among the poor.

Start: 10.10.2022
End:   09.10.2025

Coordinating Institute
Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Project Team

  • Dr. Michael Stolpe, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Coordinator)
  • Sahar Saeedi Moghaddam MSc, Kiel Institute for the World Economy
  • Dr. Sofia Monteiro, Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Further information can be found here.

 

>     Addressing Wildlife Risk Knowledge Gaps At the Environment-Health Nexus of the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco: Socio-ecological Impacts and Mechanisms of Pathogen Emergence in Changing Landscapes<     Addressing Wildlife Risk Knowledge Gaps At the Environment-Health Nexus of the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco: Socio-ecological Impacts and Mechanisms of Pathogen Emergence in Changing Landscapes

Addressing Wildlife Risk Knowledge Gaps At the Environment-Health Nexus of the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco: Socio-ecological Impacts and Mechanisms of Pathogen Emergence in Changing Landscapes

Addressing Wildlife Risk Knowledge Gaps at the Environment-Health Nexus of the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco: Socio-ecological Impacts and Mechanisms of Pathogen Emergence in Changing Landscapes (SIMPEL) Human alterations of landscapes and resultant impacts on human and animal distributions are key environmental changes occurring worldwide. Evidence is growing that such anthropogenic environmental changes are driving increased emergence of zoonotic pathogens. However, the current understanding of these linkages is limited, primarily correlative, and inconsistent across spatial and temporal scales, pathogens, transmission routes, and ecological contexts. This project will apply inter- and trans-disciplinary studies to characterize the ecological and social impacts of transitions from one land-use type to another, including effects on wild and domestic hosts, their pathogens, and human-nature relations. The project focuses on the under-studied, highly biodiverse, and rapidly changing landscapes of the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco in Colombia and Bolivia, and the Indigenous and local communities reliant on them, such as the T'simane and Tacana in Bolivia and diverse Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Colombia. We will define the links between potential pathogen emergence and environmental transformation to better detect, predict and prevent future pandemic emergence associated with land use change, and strengthen the evidence base for integrating health into environmental conservation and development policies and Indigenous territorial management plans.

Start: 02.12.2022
End:   02.06.2025

Coordinating Institute
Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)

Coordination

  • Prof. Dr. Alex Greenwood (IZW)

Partners

Project Team

  • Prof. Dr. Alex Greenwood (IZW)
  • Dr. Sarah Olson (WCS: New York, USA)
  • Zulema Lehm (WCS: Trinidad, Bolivia)
  • Fabian Beltran (WCS: La Paz, Bolivia)
  • Dr. Luz Acevedo (WCS: Bogotá, Colombia)

Further information can be found here.

 

>     Spatial Habitat Modelling supporting Environmental Risk Assessment for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms – the example of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)<     Spatial Habitat Modelling supporting Environmental Risk Assessment for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms – the example of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Spatial Habitat Modelling supporting Environmental Risk Assessment for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms – the example of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) microorganisms can be transmitted from various sources such as livestock farming, sewage discharge or waste heaps to humans via environmental pathways (e.g., water, air) or vectors (e.g., flying insects). The aim of this research project is to explore the assessability of spatio-temporal environmental risks due to AMR germ transmission from animal husbandry as sources via flies (in particular Musca domestica) as vectors to humans as receptors.

Against this background, the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) is pursuing the following research questions:

  • Which environmental variables determine the spatial dispersal behaviour of the model organism Muca domestica and how can these be described on different spatial scales using geodata?
  • Which approaches are suitable for modelling the spatial dispersal behaviour of the model organism, in particular for potential transmission pathways from AMR sources in livestock farming to the human population as AMR receptors?
  • What contributions to the assessment of environmental risks from AMR vectors for the investigated transmission pathways and to their reduction can be derived for Musca domestica at different spatial scales?

Start:   01.08.2023

Ende:   31.07.2026

Koordinierendes Institut

Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)

Partner

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

 

Projekt-Team

  • Lisa Eichler
  • Prof. Jochen Schanze
  • Dr. Ralf-Uwe Syrbe
  • Dr. Marco Neubert
  • Dr. Robert Hecht

Further information can be found hier.

 

 

SEED MONEY PROJECTS (SMP)

>     SMP1: Characterization of antimicrobial resistance-carrying genomes from waterbodies and sediments using PacBio long-read sequencing technology <     SMP1: Characterization of Antimicrobial resistance-carrying genomes from waterbodies and sediments using PacBio long-read sequencing technology

SMP1: Characterization of antimicrobial resistance -carrying genomes from waterbodies and sediments using PacBio long-read sequencing technology 

The Leibniz Research Alliance has provided funding under the auspices of “Characterization of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-carrying genomes from waterbodies and sediments using PacBio long-read sequencing technology”. This additional seed money will be used, as part of the project “Water as habitat and vector for AMR microbes (IPT6)”, to generate long-read metagenomes from the water column and sediments of freshwater ecosystems. Long-read sequencing is critical for establishing a link between antimicrobial (AMR) resistance genes and their carriers (bacterial and fungal species). Furthermore, investment on long-read sequencing may expand the knowledge regarding the specific vectors of resistance genes - such as plasmids or other mobile genetic elements- in aquatic ecosystems.

Start:    01.11.2021
End:      31.10.2024

Coordinating Institute

Coordination

  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Grossart (IGB)

Partners

Projectteam 

  • Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Grossart (IGB)
  • Prof. Dr. Alex Greenwood (IZW)
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrich Nübel (DSMZ)
  • M. Sc. Pau De Yebra Rodó (IGB)

 

 

>     SMP2: Systematic global analysis of national action plans on antimicrobial resistance <     SMP2: Systematic global analysis of national action plans on
antimicrobial resistance

SMP2: Systematic global analysis of national action plans on antimicrobial resistance 

The majority of countries worldwide have now developed national action plans (NAPs) to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, initial research indicates that the governance and implementation of many NAPs is severely delayed and incomplete.

In this project, together with the Global Health Governance Programme in Edinburgh, we are conducting a global governance analysis of all countries represented by a self-assessment survey in the global Tripartite Antimicrobial Resistance Database (TrACCS). For this, we are applying a governance framework to assess national AMR action plans from Anderson et al. (2019) to measure the global response to AMR.

Start:    01.05.2022
End:      31.07.2022

Coordinating Institute

Partners

Projectteam 

  • Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hein (GIGA)
  • Dr. Anne Harant (GIGA)
  • Dr. Denise Dekker (BNITM)
  • Prof. Dr. Devi Sridhar (Global Health Governance Programme, University of Edinburgh)
  • Dr. Genevie Fernandes (Global Health Governance Programme, University of Edinburgh)
  • M. Sc. Jay Patel  (Global Health Governance Programme, University of Edinburgh)