Cheese and Chats: Tackling the looming global threat of antimicrobial resistance. Event postponed

This event has been postponed: more information on the new date coming soon.

The World Health Organisation considers antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to be one of the top 10 threats public health threats facing humanity.

So why are there so few researchers dedicated to solving it? Currently, AMR is directly responsible for more than 1 million deaths per annum. Without urgent action, it is projected that the annual death toll will exceed 10 million people by 2050.

Join us for the next Cheese and Chats event to learn about how we are tackling this global threat, and hear perspectives from patient experience, front-line researchers and the policy experts.

Enjoy light refreshments and cash bar at the heritage-listed Atrium in Brisbane CBD. Friends and colleagues of UQ alumni are welcome.

Location: The Atrium, UQ Brisbane City, 308 Queen Street, Brisbane
Cost: $40 (includes cheese box with tasting notes and one standard drink)

In the spotlight

Professor Ian Henderson
Executive Director, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ and Professor of Microbial Biology
Professor Henderson's research interests focus on the cell surface of bacteria. This focus is based on the philosophy that the bacterial cell surface offers a rich source of molecules, which can be utilised & adapted to diagnose, prevent or treat infections that can lead to life-threatening disease in humans and animals.

Professor Mark Blaskovich 
'Antibiotic hunter’ and Director of Translation at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ
A medicinal chemist with 15 years of industrial drug development experience at three biotech companies. Since 2010 he has been developing new antibiotics, antibiotic alternatives, and diagnostics to detect and treat resistant bacterial and fungal infections. His research includes multiple industry collaborations focused on antimicrobial resistance.

Mr Andrew Bowskill
Co-Chair, Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network and Director Stakeholder Engagement Queensland, MTP Connect
Andrew has led the establishment of, and co-chairs the Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet), a public-private, multi-stakeholder expert group promoting Australia’s role in the global fight against AMR. Previously he was Manager of Industry and Regulatory Policy at Medicines Australia, the peak body for innovative pharmaceutical manufacturers in Australia.

Dr Melanie White
Head of a research team at the Institute of Molecular Bioscience, UQ
Dr White investigates how living organisms develop from a single cell into complex structures. In 2019, while travelling abroad, she developed cellulitis, which quickly escalated to osteomyelitis and sepsis. Hospitalised for four months, she underwent nine surgeries to save her leg and reconstruct her foot. She later had to relearn how to walk. Now permanently disabled and on lifelong medication, she considers herself incredibly fortunate to have survived.

Dr Conny Turni
Dr Turni leads a national and international reference laboratory for respiratory bacterial pathogens where identification, serotyping, genotyping, sequencing and antimicrobial sensitivity testing is performed. Her team works with the poultry, pig and cattle industries, as well as major veterinary pharmaceutical companies around the world. The group performs vaccine efficacy trials, provides advice on vaccine strain selection, performs antimicrobial sensitivity testing and evaluates candidate novel antimicrobial agents.

Dr Madhavi Maddugoda
Dr Maddugoda completed her PhD at IMB in the cell biology of cancer metastasis and in the process realised her scientific passion is in the cell biology of infectious disease. Armed with her fresh PhD Madi moved to Nice, with a fellowship to work at INSERM, France. In Nice she did the project of her life, studying how methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) tunnel through cells to get to the blood stream and cause sepsis.