Global webinar highlights urgent crisis in antimicrobial research workforce

A webinar organised by the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership on 3 September will explore the alarming decline of antimicrobial researchers amid rising resistance and shrinking pipelines, urging global action to revitalise the field.

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership will host a webinar on 3 September on a problem that is becoming as urgent as the science itself: the shrinking pool of antimicrobial researchers.

According to the organisation, the discussion will examine why experienced specialists are leaving the field or retiring, even as antimicrobial resistance continues to erode the effectiveness of existing treatments. The event comes against a backdrop of persistent weakness in the pipeline. The World Health Organisation said in 2021 that none of the 43 antibiotics then in clinical development adequately tackled resistance in the most dangerous bacteria.

The wider research ecosystem is also under strain. An analysis by the AMR Industry Alliance found that authorship on AMR papers fell from 3,599 in 1995 to 1,827 in 2020, signalling a long decline in the specialist workforce. A 2025 review of genomic surveillance by the Pandemic Sciences Institute added that 89 countries have no publicly available genomic data for key drug-resistant pathogens.

The webinar will bring together Marc Lemonnier of Antabio, the WHO’s Alexandra Cameron and Jonathan Stokes of McMaster University, with Lesley Ogilvie of the Global AMR R&D Hub chairing. The aim is to consider how academia, funding incentives and policy support might help rebuild a sustainable research base.