Scientific interest is in the ecology and dynamics of genes, species and communities associated with antimicrobial resistance, with special emphasis in commensal opportunistic pathogens (COPs) present in both humans and animals (Enterobacteriaceae, enterococci). Development and validation of advanced omics and bioinformatics tools applied to accurately characterize the abundance and the diversity of genes and populations at subspecies level in metagenomes become a priority to quantify the risks of emergence and transmission of AMR and to identify predictive markers of infection under the personalized medicine perspective.
Transmission
Identify and characterize subpopulations of opportunistic pathogens responsible for antibiotic resistance and their transmission pathways, including clonal lineages and mobile genetic elements
Intervention
Analyze the factors that contribute to the selection, transmission, and maintenance of antibiotic resistant bacteria, with the aim of developing new strategies for intervention against resistance and treatment of infection.
Diagnostics
Apply molecular genetic tools and new genomic and metagenomic tools
to identify biomarkers, develop new diagnostic methods and offer the
results in a format that allow the design and execution of specific health plans.