Abstract

The evolution of antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to human lives that is becoming progressively harder to manage. This is because there are many different mechanisms that allow bacteria to develop resistance to antimicrobial treatments. In this talk, I will explore the complex dynamics of genetic, phenotypic and mobile resistance mechanisms in microbial populations. I will show under which conditions we would expect genetic or phenotypic antimicrobial resistance to determine pathogen success and how this leads to different mutational pathways during chronic and acute infections. Further, I will discuss the genetic and environmental conditions that determine the spread of mobile resistance elements in heterogeneous bacterial populations. Overall, I aim to demonstrate the complexity of microbial resistance dynamics but that there is hope to understand them by studying their mechanistic interactions.

The seminar will be held in JDB Seminar Room, Department of Engineering, and online (zoom): https://newnham.zoom.us/j/92544958528?pwd=YS9PcGRnbXBOcStBdStNb3E0SHN1UT09