NAMRIP invited to exhibit 'The most dangerous game in the world' at the Longtitude Prize 'Superbugs' event
Professor Timothy Leighton and Winchester Science Centre Director, Ben Ward, were part of a team of NAMRIP colleagues invited to exhibit at the NESTA Longitude Prize, Antibiotic Awareness Week event in London on Tuesday.
GP and presenter of BBC2's 'Trust Me I'm a Doctor', Dr Zoe Williams introduced a range of speakers at the event, including expert patients, fellow GPs and funding representatives, all with a story to tell which highlighted the need for new diagnostics to improve antibiotic use. On either side of the presentations, networking opportunities gave over 100 delegates at the event plenty of chance to try the NAMRIP exhibits.
Back in June 2017, two NESTA representatives attended the 2017 NAMRIP Summer Conference and as a result, invited NAMRIP to exhibit both 'The Most Dangerous Game in the World', and the eye infection exhibit showing the research of NAMRIP member Dr Parwez Hossain which demonstrates a novel approach to identify micro-organisms involved in corneal infections and provide instant identification of bacteria. The June issue of the Longitude Newsletter featured an article describing 'The Most Dangerous Game in the World' and delegates at the event were enthusiastic as they tried out its arcade style games which are designed to teach people, particularly children, about AMR and safer antibiotic use. On hand to encourage people to try out the games, were NAMRIP members Dr Collin Sones, Professor Syma Khaled and Frances Clarke.
Read more about the event and speakers on the Longitude Prize website
Everyone at the packed event on London's Victoria Embankment shared a common aim - to be part of a movement to communicate about and slow down antibiotic resistance. Speakers included Susan Yates from the Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Campaign (CUTIC), Helen Bronstein, who lost her mother to hospital acquired MRSA, Kate Dwyer, also a member of CUTIC, whose little daughter has been battling superbugs since she was two years old and Dr Susannah Woodd, GP and research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who looked at the challenge from a different perspective. She explained that sometimes because of the lack of effective diagnostics she is forced to guess whether people need antibiotics or not. She was honest about the fact that sometimes she prescribes antibiotics even if there is a low chance of the problem being bacterial. In some cases she just refuses to take the risk.