DSTI/NRF SARChI Chair: Community Antimicrobial Resistance
The DSTI/NRF South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) on Community Antimicrobial Resistance has three overarching goals: to generate evidence on locally relevant drug-resistant priority bacteria; to work with communities to coproduce ethnographically relevant educational materials; and to develop leadership in AMR and global health.
Major Activities
Establishment of community-based prospective birth cohorts and surveillance activities in Dzimauli, Limpopo Province; and Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province.
Determination of full genome resistomes of enteric Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp from young children.
Determination of the association of enteric bacteria resistomes and hydrometeorological variables and association with in-house livestock.
Characterization of phages against locally relevant resistant enteric bacteria.
Development of ethnographically relevant educational packages for AMR awareness through Responsive Dialogues and knowledge translation.