In November, ICARS staff joined 25 human and animal health experts participating in a three-week course run by the University of Copenhagen, titled “Policy development and implementation of interventions to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR)”. ICARS staff took part in laboratory exercises, presented examples from our project portfolio, and facilitated group work and discussions.
The participants were professionals working in government and other institutions with various mandates on antimicrobial use (AMU) and AMR. These institutions are working with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the Danish Health Authority in so-called Strategic Sector Cooperation programmes financially supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They have diverse professional backgrounds and come from a wide range of countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam. The course aimed to share knowledge about how to set priorities and develop evidence-based, context-specific, and cost-effective solutions to mitigate AMR in humans, livestock, and the environment in LMICs. The course consisted of a mixture of group work, discussions with contributors, including ICARS, and lectures.
AST lab work
On Tuesday, 11 November, course participants, along with a few ICARS staff, attended a laboratory session on “Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) and Interpretation.” AST is a laboratory procedure used to determine whether bacterial pathogens are susceptible or resistant to antimicrobials. Capacity to conduct AST of high quality is essential for correct determination of resistance patterns and levels, providing evidence needed for effective antimicrobial treatment and stewardship.
The session, led by Dr Gildas Hounmanou, Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen, began with an introduction to key AST concepts. Participants then took part in a hands-on practical, learning how to prepare bacterial isolate solutions, spread them evenly onto agar plates, and apply antimicrobial discs. The following day, the participants evaluated the results by measuring inhibition zone diameters of bacterial growth around the discs to determine whether the bacteria were sensitive or resistant to the subjected antibiotics. Through this exercise, participants gained a clearer understanding of the challenges in producing reliable test results, the factors that can influence results, and the crucial role of having quality control measures and trained technical staff.
Lectures by ICARS staff
Members of the ICARS team joined the participants to deliver lectures on their specialist topics.
Carolina Vega, Science Officer for the Caribbean, provided an overview of ICARS and our approach to implementation research, followed by insights about “Bridging the Science-Policy Gap: How Knowledge Translation drives AMR interventions.” The session explored how new AMR evidence meets existing institutional routines, creating productive “friction” where ideas can be adapted and made usable. It highlighted how knowledge translation and mobilisation support this process and enable evidence to move toward more sustainable application within One Health sectors.
Holy Akwar, Science Advisor: Veterinary Sciences, presented about ICARS’ animal health projects in different countries, offering a deep dive on biosecurity to mitigate AMR. The session explored sustainable solutions to mitigate AMR, highlighted biosecurity as a potent tool and discussed challenges faced by low- and middle-come countries, including prioritisation, and assessment tools for biosecurity. The session concluded that biosecurity must be context-specific and cost-effective to be sustainable.
A lecture on the environmental dimensions of AMR was delivered by Cèlia Ventura I Gabarró, Science Officer: AMR and Gender. In this session, the importance of adopting a One Health lens was discussed, emphasising the need to not leave the environment behind. Additionally, the interlinkages between climate change and AMR were explained, together with the work that ICARS has been doing to find climate-smart solutions that address AMR.
“It is always a pleasure to collaborate with the University of Copenhagen and share ICARS’ streams of work and diverse portfolio. The course provides a great opportunity to showcase to the participants different ways of tackling AMR, introduce new lenses, and highlight the work being carried out by the project teams we collaborate with. The participants’ wide and diverse experience led to enriching discussions, giving us insights into different contexts and creating a valuable two-way learning experience.,” said Cèlia Ventura I Gabarró, Science Officer: AMR and Gender.
Participants heard from Sarah von Humboldt-Scotland, Science Officer: AMR and Gender, about integrating gender and equity in AMR intervention and implementation research. This presentation highlighted why gender and equity considerations are essential for understanding and addressing AMR, showing how social determinants shape exposure, access, and outcomes. It also outlined practical ways researchers and project teams can apply a gender and equity lens in AMR interventions, including the Practical Pathways document designed to support this integration. The Zimbabwe project, ‘Integrating Gender and Equity in AMR Strategies: Improving Biosecurity in the Poultry Sector,’ was presented as an example of how these considerations can be embedded in AMR research and implementation.
Erica Westwood, Team Coordinator and Senior Science Advisor, provided an overview of ICARS’ human health portfolio, including insights into our approach to antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and control, and vaccines to mitigate AMR.
Following the presentations, participants took part in an exercise facilitated by ICARS team members. In supervised group work, the participants worked with a human health and animal health case study, where they had to prioritise an AMR problem and discuss feasible interventions that could be sustained considering a reduced global funding landscape. Participants highlighted a range of interventions focusing mostly on infection, prevention, and control measures as well as biosecurity interventions.
“I was pleased to observe the marked increase in participants’ confidence over the three-week course, which fostered more engaged and substantive discussions. As in previous years, contributions from ICARS staff were of consistently high quality, underscoring the need for context-specific approaches when designing effective interventions to address antimicrobial resistance. The course also provided an important forum for ICARS staff to interact with key personnel from governmental institutions in LMICs, including both current partners and potential future collaborators.,” said Anders Dalsgaard, Senior Scientific Consultant.
