COVID-19

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the largest growing threats to human health. Misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the growth of drug resistant ‘superbugs’ that mean common illnesses and procedures could become life-threatening in the future.

Before the pandemic, Dr Pouwels was working with Public Health England to optimise antibiotic prescribing in the UK, in order to help tackle antimicrobial resistance. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, he pivoted his expertise to tackling this new global threat to health.

On being awarded the prize, Dr Pouwels said: “In April 2020, I co-designed the UK’s national COVID-19 Infection Survey, the largest COVID-19 household survey in the world. Throughout the entire pandemic, we have been sharing weekly reports with the Prime Minister’s Office and key government advisory groups, which has informed vital policies such as the ‘rule of 6’ and the second national lockdown.

“My analyses have also allowed us to monitor local trends in COVID-19 infections and antibody levels, vaccination uptake, and transmissibility of new variants. I also investigated how sewage samples could be used to track COVID-19 infections.

“The Emerging Leaders Prize funding will help me to optimise the design of new and existing surveillance programmes, to make a real difference in how we do surveillance, not just for the current pandemic, but also future pandemics.”