They became friends on the Prairies and are now working to fight a global health threat in Sri Lanka

Two scientists whose con‐ nection was sparked in Saskatchewan are working together from different sides of the globe to im‐ prove animal health in Sri Lanka, in hopes of address‐ ing a potential global health threat.

"Literally right here is where we sat together," said Joe Rubin, looking around his lab at the University of Saskatchewan.

It's the scene where an in‐ ternational friendship formed on the Prairies.

Rubin is a professor of veterinary microbiology at the Western College of Vet‐ erinary Medicine in Saska‐ toon. He met fellow scientist Roshan Madalagama almost 11 years ago, when Madalagama came to Saskatchewan from Sri Lanka as a graduate student.

"I believe that my second home is in Canada," Madalagama told CBC from Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

"As a mentor, [Rubin] is one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life. There's no doubt about that."

Rubin supervised Madalagama as the two studied antimicrobial resis‐ tance, or AMR - the same is‐ sue they're tackling today.

Only now, it's Madalagama taking the lead.

"As a supervisor, there is nothing as gratifying as when your student kind of sur‐ passes you," Rubin said with a laugh.

"Dr. Madalagama has gone on to do really amazing things. He's been a really in‐ spirational person in his country."

WATCH| How this friend‐ ship could help fight a global health threat in Sri

Lanka:

AMR a 'major global threat': WHO

Antimicrobial resistance is what happens when bacteria, fungus and parasites build up resistance to medication like antibiotics, making infec‐ tions harder to treat and some procedures riskier. It can happen due to the overuse or misuse of those medications.

The World Health Organi‐ zation deems AMR a major global threat, and the rates are especially high in Sri Lan‐ ka.

Up until last year, Madalagama said his country didn't monitor that resis‐ tance in animals - only hu‐ mans.

The immediate worry is if it goes unchecked, vets in Sri Lanka won't be able to treat illnesses in livestock - which many families depend on for income or food for their own families.

"They're really relying on it for their nutrition, so it's not the bigger-scale agriculture that we may be familiar with here in Saskatchewan," said Rubin.

The overarching concern, however, is that resistance seen in animals could trans‐ fer to humans anywhere.

"All the world is like one village - a global village," said Madalagama.

"So because of that, we need to have a very collective effort."

Madalagama has helped the WHO and Sri Lanka's gov‐ ernment address antimicro‐ bial resistance from a veteri‐ nary standpoint, but now he and Rubin are focusing on more grassroots work.

Thanks to funding from the University of Saskatchewan, the two started a years-long effort to help rural vets in Sri Lanka detect issues faster, and im‐ prove training at the coun‐ try's national veterinary lab.

Their first endeavour was to create a lab manual, acces‐ sible from anywhere in the world. Rubin visited Sri Lanka in March, and plans on wel‐ coming two vet technicians to Saskatoon this fall.

Madalagama said he's ex‐ cited his colleagues can learn from Rubin, just as he did.

"They really like to have these kinds of very good op‐ portunities to learn from a Canadian expert," he said.

"He changed my life."