Bacterial and Viral Infection

Dr Eyre will develop diagnostic tests, based on DNA sequencing, to detect antibiotic resistance in patients with sepsis and other serious infections. By offering faster diagnosis and giving patients earlier access to the right treatment, this could save lives and prevent the spread of resistance by avoiding over-use of antibiotics.

On being awarded the prize, Dr Eyre said:

“Using this prize fund I will further develop state-of-the-art approaches to detecting infection, which are faster than traditional methods that rely on waiting for bacteria to grow in the lab. In collaboration with my colleagues at the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, I will also combine these approaches with artificial intelligence techniques to predict which patients are most at risk of antibiotic resistance, and to pick the best antibiotics to use.”