Jacob Tickner1
1UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Antimicrobial resistance continues to be a major challenge for the management of sexually transmitted infections. Rapidly increasing resistance to mainstay treatments presents a global health threat. Limited development of new therapeutics for these infections means current treatments must be used more effectively. New diagnostic tools for resistance-guided therapy present the best chance to spare use of mainstay drugs, ensuring available treatment options into the future. Commercialisation of these new diagnostics is fundamental for uptake and implementation of these tools, but there has been a paucity of commercial investment given a perceived lack of confidence in utility of molecular targets that inform drug susceptibility and resistance. However, work by our team defines the role of these targets, and has presented proof-of-concept assays with utility to inform treatment. Herein, I present updates on the antimicrobial resistance challenges for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and discuss the novel diagnostic approaches our team is developing and commercialising to improve management and control the spread of these antimicrobial-resistant infections.
Biography
Jacob is a Research Fellow in molecular microbiology at The University of Queensland. His work focuses on the development of new molecular pathology tools for the detection of infectious diseases. These tools can be used for disease control and surveillance, and to individualise therapy and rationalise antibiotic use through resistance guided diagnostics. As part of the ARC ITRP Research Hub to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance, Jacob is developing the next generation of antimicrobial resistance diagnostic tools for gonorrhoea.