SupervisoryTeam
Carmen Torres
Supervisor Details
Email: carmen.torres@unirioja.es
Organization Type: University
Organization Name: University of La Rioja
Short Biography: PhD in Pharmacy, Especialist in Clinical Microbiology. Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of University La Rioja (UR), Logroño, Spain. Coordinator of the Research Group “Antimicrobial Resistance from the One Health perspective” (OneHealth-UR); Academic member of “Academia de Farmacia del Reino de Aragón”. President of GEMARA (Spanish group for the Study of Antimicrobial Action and Resistance) during 2019-2021. Responsible in UR of Interuniversitary Doctoral Program on Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences. Participate in working groups of National Spanish Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance (PRAN). Scientific production: > 520 JCR Publications (>18,000 cites, h index 68). Thesis supervised: 36 thesis (50% with international mention and/or special awards). Coauthor of Spanish patent on nanoparticles with antimicrobial activity. National/International Research Projects: 31 (in 25 as principal researcher). Member of the JPIAMR-VI Surveillance Network-2018-H2020 "Towards Developing an-International Environmental AMR Surveillance Strategy”. Research lineages: 1) Antimicrobial resistance from the ONE HEALT perspective: humans-animals-food-environment; 2) Molecular epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in the human-animal-environmental interface: mobile genetic elements and epidemic clones; 3) New antimicrobials and new therapeutical alternatives; 4) Antimicrobial peptides of bacterial origin; 4). ORCID: 0000-0003-3709-1690. Research link: https://investigacion.unirioja.es/investigadores/187/detalle
Marc Stegger
Co-Supervisor Details
Email: mtg@ssi.dk
Organization Type: Non-academic institution
Organization Name: Statens Serum Institut
Short Biography: Marc Stegger PhD, heads the Department of Sequencing and Bioinformatics at Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. This section has 28 employees, including laboratory technicians and bioinformaticians from post-master level to post-doc positions. His field of specialization is the use of bioinformatics to understand bacterial evolution, selection, and dissemination, with a specific interest in antimicrobial resistance. This applies specifically to antimicrobial usage in both humans and the human-livestock interface and its combined impact on resistance to critically important antimicrobials. He has been co-supervisor on >10 PhDs, and his group has multiple students.
Added Value: I have an extended network worldwide with researchers and surveillance groups related to several important human pathogens and various aspects of One Health. In relation to this, I held a position as Adjunct Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institut (TGen) in Flagstaff Arizona, US between 2013-2017. Currently, I am also an Affiliated Researcher at the School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health at Örebro University, Sweden (2020 onwards), a Science Partner at the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken School of Public Health, The George Washington University, USA (2017 onwards), as well as an Adjunct Professor at the Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Diseases Laboratory in the School of Veterinary and Life Science at Murdoch University in Perth since 2017. Combined this also allows any networking between candidates and this network. ORCID: 0000-0003-0321-1180; h-index: 65 (according to Google Scholar).
Carmen Lozano
Other Co-Supervisor
Email: carmen.lozano@unirioja.es
Organization Type: University
Organization Name: University of La Rioja
Short Biography: Professor associate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of La Rioja (UR) (since 2018). PhD in Pharmacy (2012). Her thesis was awarded by two relevant prizes. She has worked in international universities and research centres: UR (Spain), Centre for Biomedical Research of La Rioja (Spain), National Food Institute in the Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) and Columbia University (USA). She has collaborated in 14 research projects. She is co-author of 100 scientific papers, 7 reviews, 3 book chapters and more than 140 scientific communications in national/international congresses (some of them awarded as the best communications). She has participated in the organization of two national congresses and she is member of several scientific societies. She and her research group have received multiple research awards. She has supervised 3 doctoral thesis (one of them funded by an MSCA grant). She is currently co-supervising 4 PhD candidates.
Added Value: Throughout her research career she has collaborated with groups from different disciplines and she has been involved in a lot of national, international, and intercontinental collaborations with research centers, hospitals and universities in many parts of the world (Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Nigeria, Algeria, Tunisia, Mexico, USA). Thanks to the time worked in other international research centers (National Food Institute and Columbia University), she has solid collaborations with these research groups of great relevance in the study of the antibiotic resistance problem and bacteria-host interactions. Moreover, PhD students supervised by Lozano have carried out research stays in relevant groups (University of Tübingen, Statens Serum Institut and Universitätsklinikum Münster).
ResearchGroup
Description: The Research Group Antimicrobial resistance from the OneHealth perspective of the University of Rioja (OneHealth-UR), coordinated by Prof. Carmen Torres, is composed by 15 members (7 Professors or Associate Professors and 8 PhD students or postdoc researchers) of multiple disciplines (Pharmacy, Veterinary, Biomedicine, Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Food Technology, or Food Engineering) to conform this multidisciplinary group that deal with the OneHealth perspective (link https://investigacion.unirioja.es/grupos/39/detalle). The group have more than 500 publications in the field of antimicrobial resistance, molecular epidemiology-OneHealth and new alternatives to antibiotics (antimicrobial peptides) with applications in Biomedicine and in the Agrofood sector. The OneHealth-UR group have many collaborations with research groups of Europe (Spain, Denmark, France, UK, Portugal, Germany, Swiss, or Netherlands), America (Canada, USA, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Perú, Brazil, Argentina…) and Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal and Nigeria) with which we have common publications in the field of antimicrobial resistance (see link of the research group or of the supervisor).
ResearchLine
Description: Antimicrobial resistance in the environment: OneHealth approach with public health implications. Antibiotics are fundamental in the fight against bacterial infections. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing public health problem around the world. Traditionally, AMR has been related to the human or animal clinical settings. The One-Health concept recognizes that the health of people is connected to the health of animals (including pets, livestock and derived food, and wildlife), and their shared environment. AMR is also distributed to all OneHealth domains and it must be studied from this approach. Among all these compartments, the environment has undoubtedly been the most forgotten. Water, soil, air and wildlife (where antimicrobials, resistant bacteria and resistance genes can be found) have an important role in the dissemination of AMR and will be analysed in this project to determine the most relevant hotspots in the dissemination of AMR and to elucidate the strategies for AMR control. Global genomic analysis will be performed among bacteria of the different environments in comparison with those of human and livestock origins to understand the origin, development and evolution of AMR and its impact on public health. Moreover, alternatives to antibiotics, as are the antimicrobial peptides of environmental bacteria, will be evaluated and characterized.
Others
Description: The proposed research project has a direct impact on public health, but at this point, we want to mention other aspects that should be considered, such as its relationship with 1) the circular economy model, 2) the Sustainable Development Goals, and 3) the European Green Deal. 1) Water is one of the resources with great potential within the framework of the circular economy Sewage sludges obtained from wastewater effluents are also an important resource for agricultural use. The presence of antibiotics, resistant bacteria, and resistance genes must be monitored and controlled, as recovered water for irrigation or reused sludges should not compromise public health and must respect the environment. 2) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations, are established as universal actions to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of people worldwide. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitutes a direct or indirect barrier to many necessary advancements in health, food safety, access to clean water, environmental protection, sustainable production, and economic growth and development. All these aspects hinder the achievement of several SDGs, such as No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Life on Land (SDG 15), among others. 3) The European Green Deal serves as a roadmap to promote a more sustainable future by implementing a production model that is more environmentally friendly. One of the proposed initiatives is the "From Farm to Fork" strategy, which advocates for a less polluting agri-livestock system. One of the goals included is the reduction of antibiotic use in farm animals and ensuring food safety. Therefore, the control of AMR in the environment is a necessary tool.
CareerDevelopment
Objectives
- Future postdoc employment at the University
- Increased employability in the non-academic sector
- International mobility
- Building collaborative networks
- Trainings to enhance career opportunities
- Application of postdoctoral grants (MSCA, Juan de la Cierva, etc.)
- Application for projects and funding (Horizon Europe, national plans, etc.)
- Involvement in teaching, supervision, or mentoring
Expected Outputs
- PhD defense
- Application of grants (MSCA, Juan de la Cierva, etc.)
- Publication of articles
- Patenting
- Developing new products, solutions, or services
- Attendance to international conferences
Training Skills
- Project Management
- Grant Writing
- Communication to the civil society and public engagement
- Open Science
- Ethics and Research Integrity
- Teaching
- Research Valorization
- Leadership
- Advanced Digital Skills
ProposedSecondment
Name of Institution: Statum Serum Institute in Copenhagen (Denmark)
Type of Organisation
Other Comments: Staten Serum Institute is a center under the auspicies of the Danish Ministry of Health. The main duty is to deal against infectious diseases and biological treats.
Co-supervision in the Non-Academic Institution
The cosupervisor is the head of the Sequencing and Bioinformatic Department in Staten Serum Institute with strong expertise in genomic analysis of bacteria applied to antimicrobial resistance and bacterial evolution. He will be the cosupervisor of the PhD student and will supervise the training of the PhD student in different bioinformatic and genomic analysis tools to be applied to the characterization of the isolates obtained during the PhD project. Also, will participate in the complete genomic comparative analysis of isolates of different ecosystems of the OneHealth context.
Duration of the Secondment
Duration: 4-6 months
Objectives
- Technology transfer
- Building partnerships
- Application of grants or projects in collaboration
- Using key research infrastructure
Added Value
The added value of the secondment is focused in two aspects: 1) The PhD can be in an important center with an excellent research group of high relevance in the field of genomic, bioinformatic and bacterial evolution, that is a reference at international level in the field of AMR and infectious diseases. 2) The PhD candidate could deepen in the genomic characterization of the environmental bacteria to be applied to the dissemination of AMR in the OneHealth context.