Dr. Thomas Van Boeckel

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Background

Antibiotics were first introduced in human medicine in the 1940s and have contributed to substantially reduce the burden of infectious diseases. However, antimicrobial resistance –the ability of microbes to evolve and resist treatment– is rising globally and is already serious public health problem. The spread of bacteria resistant to last-resort drugs portends a post-antibiotic era where common pathogens could once again lead to deadly infections (700,000 deaths/year). This crisis is fueled by the overconsumption of those drugs in humans, but also in animals. In fact, most antimicrobials sold on earth are not used in humans: 73% of all antimicrobials are used in animal production, mostly as surrogates for poor hygiene on farms or to increase weight gain. Thus far, the response to this growing threat has been inadequate and uneven across countries.

Details of Research

Dr. Thomas Van Boeckel’s research lies at the interface of science and policy. His objective is to accelerate the international response to the rapid rise of antimicrobial resistance. Specifically, he will pioneer the development of a novel type of platform to automate epidemiological data collection, and using geospatial methods he will map the geographic distribution of four common drug-resistant pathogens found in animals. The objective of this work is to help target intervention against antimicrobial resistance in the most affected regions, and create a baseline for the evaluation of future efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance in food animals. He will also explore how economic incentives such as taxes could be deployed to optimally manage the antimicrobials currently used in veterinary medicine. Ultimately those initiatives aim to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance in animals, as well as their potential transmission to humans.