Research
Research
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the process by which micro-organisms become resistant to the drugs we rely on to treat them. It's often considered a purely biomedical problem—an understanding that obscures the complex power dynamics creating and sustaining this global health crisis. My research bridges microbiology and critical theory, foregrounding the political, social and economic structures underpinning our society that drive vast inequalities in the burden of AMR. By combining my formal scientific training and experience of decolonial activism, I've developed projects that go beyond the biomedical to unravel who is most affected by AMR, why, and what should be done about it.
This ongoing project involves a systematic review of the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and AMR bloodstream infections across high-income countries. In collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency and partners including Antibiotics UK, this much-needed synthesis will provide a foundation for future equity-focused AMR interventions and a response to the UK AMR National Action Plan's call for evidence on the link between AMR and inequality.
Anthropogenic pollution drives the emergence of AMR in the aquatic environment; however, the effects of this pollution is not felt evenly across physical or sociopolitical geography. This piece of work links data on the burden of AMR in the aquatic environment with geospatial information on deprivation. With this data synthesis approach we aim to illuminate the differential risks posed by AMR in the aquatic environment and lay the groundwork for future research into the effects of environmental injustices on the impact of AMR.
This section is currently a work in progress.