IMPACT AMR Network Summer 2026 Seminars
The IMPACT AMR Network takes a transdisciplinary approach to improving the use of evidence to inform prioritisation of efforts to impact antimicrobial resistance. In Summer 2026, we ran three seminars featuring our early career researchers (ECRs), inviting these current and former Network researchers to present their work and to engage with participants to discuss findings, approaches and ways forward.
Below, we recap the focus for each seminar and our featured speakers. You will also find the links to any session recordings.
On Wednesday, 1 July 2026, we were pleased to have our Workstream 3 team present our first early career researcher (ECR) seminar in our summer series – WASH as a Case Study Model – to an audience of over 60 participants. The hour-long virtual event was chaired by Prof Laura Richards (WS3 co-lead, The University of Manchester).
Rory Cracroft and Derick Muloogi (IMPACT AMR ECRs, The University of Manchester) jointly presented their work to date investigating how AMR-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions may be prioritised to reduce inferred AMR-burden in contrasting resource-constrained settings in South Asia and East Africa. The team’s work aimed to develop and apply an evidence-based approach evaluating nine WASH interventions using five criteria across three countries – Uganda, Bangladesh, and India. The team selected indicators across five criteria of effectiveness, economic value, feasibility, sustainability and scalability, and equity and fairness. They leveraged multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to develop criteria weighting scenarios and perform sensitivity analyses, building on concepts from existing theoretical prioritisation frameworks to identify priorities and trade-offs. This exercise reinforced the recommendation that due to wide uncertainties and evidence gaps across contexts, use of a multi-criteria framework over one that considers effectiveness only may lead to more robust prioritisation. Importantly, no single intervention consistently performed best across all criteria, countries, and exemplar stakeholder scenarios, highlighting the need to consider trade-offs not only in interventions but in stakeholder objectives and criteria in determining ‘optimal’ interventions. This WASH case study was the first developed through IMPACT AMR and the approaches used will be refined with further co-development across the network and guide the creation of additional case studies. The team looks forward to sharing the full manuscript later this year.
Dr. Ben Parcell (WS3 co-lead, University of Dundee), along with Bernard Oduro Acheampong (IMPACT AMR ECRs, University of Dundee), introduced their plans for work on an infection prevention and control (IPC) case study focused on healthcare environment contamination. Healthcare environmental reservoirs of resistant organisms continue to drive healthcare-associated infections and AMR, and conventional decontamination methods often fail to eradicate the biofilms that protect these pathogens. This new case study will explore environmental IPC interventions with a focus on bacteriophage-based decontamination. Stay tuned to future newsletters for further updates and opportunities to engage as the team continues to develop their methodology.
Dr. Steve Montgomery-Laird (WS3 co-lead, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire) shared how his team, with two ECRs at the University of Warwick, Drs Andrea D’souza and Nicholas Briggs, are planning a third case study around herbal and natural alternatives to pharmaceutical antimicrobials. The limited number of new antimicrobial pharmaceuticals that ultimately come onto the market leaves an opportunity to explore alternative therapies. The team is currently conducting their literature review to identify natural (e.g., honey, turmeric) products used in different contexts throughout the world and how they might be substituted for pharmaceutical antimicrobials.
Many thanks to workstream 3 for sharing their case study progress with the network! If you’d like to learn more about how the network is approaching its case study work, we invite you to read more and submit ideas to us via Case Study Selection Guidance – Impact AMR.
Speakers
Professor Laura Richards – IMPACT AMR Co-lead, Professor of Water Resources and Environmental Geochemistry and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow; The University of Manchester
Rory Cracroft – IMPACT AMR Early Career Researcher and Postgraduate Research Teaching Associate; The University of Manchester
Derick Muloogi – IMPACT AMR Early Career Researcher and Postgraduate Researcher,; The University of Manchester
Dr Steven Montgomery-Laird – IMPACT AMR Co-lead, Consultant Physician in Medical Microbiology; University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Dr Benjamin Parcell – IMPACT AMR Co-lead, Clinical Senior Lecturer & Honorary Microbiology Consultant; University of Dundee
On 24 July, Dr Carys Redman‑White (former IMPACT AMR ECR, University of Edinburgh) outlined her use of Delphi expert elicitation and participatory systems mapping to prioritise interventions in our second early career researcher (ECR) seminar. She described how causal loop models were developed to explore both the direct and indirect effects of interventions on antimicrobial use and resistance within food systems, as well as helping anticipate co-benefits and trade-offs of interventions.
A multidisciplinary expert group from across the IMPACT AMR network took part in a virtual workshop and follow‑up survey to define initial priority interventions. Stella Architect systems‑modelling software was used to iteratively refine the causal loop diagram based on expert input. In total, 17 potential interventions were considered, spanning consumer behaviour, agricultural practices, legislation, surveillance, and antimicrobial supply. Five were selected for deeper analysis, with their potential system impacts systematically catalogued, including key feedback loops.
Carys also elaborated on the concept of bounded rationality: the idea that decisions make sense given the information, resources, incentives and constraints available to actors within a system. Individually ‘rational’ choices can nonetheless generate unintended emergent outcomes. System diagrams help illustrate the multiple pathways linking behaviours and outcomes in complex systems.
For prioritisation, participatory causal mapping was proposed as an initial stage that can feed into more detailed intervention appraisal, including quantifying system effects and identifying implementation costs and barriers to adoption.
Speakers
Professor Dominic Moran – IMPACT AMR Co-director, Professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics; University of Edinburgh
Dr Carys Redman-White – IMPACT AMR Early Career Researcher; The University of Edinburgh
On Friday, 16 October 2026, we were pleased to spotlight our Workstream 1 team to present the third early career researcher (ECR) seminar in our series – Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Intervention Impacts: Findings from a Rapid Systematic Umbrella Review – to an audience of 68 attendees.
Dr Kristina Aluzaite (IMPACT AMR ECR, The University of York) built on last year’s IMPACT AMR workshop during which we gathered input and opinion on AMR intervention impact metrics (Defining the Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance Interventions Through a One Health Lens: Findings from the IMPACT AMR Workshop. The seminar presented findings from a rapid umbrella review of 80 systematic reviews examining AMR interventions across human, animal, and environmental health.
The session introduced a proposed taxonomy for organising AMR intervention impacts and metrics and provided an opportunity to discuss and critically reflect on the outputs produced so far. We also compared the findings from the literature with those from the workshop findings, considering which impact metrics are commonly used vs those that may be considered important but remain poorly-captured. We thank all of our members who participated and shared feedback on the taxonomy, interpretation of the findings, and their implications for AMR intervention prioritisation.
For further discussion pertaining to the seminar, please contact Prof Julie Robotham at julie.robotham@ukhsa.gov.uk.
Speakers
Professor Julie Robotham – IMPACT AMR Co-lead, Head of AMR Modelling and Evaluation; UK Health Security Agency
Dr Kristina Aluzaite – IMPACT AMR Early Career Researcher; The University of York
