Art school awarded funds for bacteria project

More than £600,000 has been awarded to research projects at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) to address the problems of bacteria which is resistant to antibiotics.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) projects led by architecture and design research- ers at the school attracted the funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The GSA attracted support for three different £250,000 research projects.

GSA director Professor Tom Inns said: “These AHRC AMR grants will now enable teams of experts led by researchers at the GSA to co-design responses to three key challenges – build -up of microbes in new housing, spread of AMR in hospitals and community health, increase of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in small animal veterinary practice – and to make real and tangible difference to people’s lives.”

The projects will see the school joining forces with higher education institutions across the UK plus specialists Fitzpatrick Referrals, the practice of Noel Fitzpatrick, Channel 4’s Supervet.

The AHRC distributed a total of £2 million to 11 projects in the awards.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), especially resistance to antibiotics, is a growing global problem.”