Understanding roles of non-antibiotics on the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is claiming at least 1.27 million lives every year. Current research on antimicrobial resistance heavily focuses on the clinical setting and mainly attributes the spread of antimicrobial resistance to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Nevertheless, apart from antibiotics, various non-antibiotic emerging pollutants also exist in the environment and could pose stress and harmful effects on microorganisms. In this seminar, I will guide you to explore the association between non-antibiotic emerging pollutants and the spread of antimicrobial resistance using three experimental models: mutation, conjugation, and transformation. My research findings aim to provide critical knowledge for further risk assessment and decision-making purposes.

Bio: Dr. Ji Lu obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Microbiology from ACWEB at UQ. He currently works as an ARC DECRA fellow at ACWEB. His research focuses on investigating the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance.