Fleming Initiative strengthens collaborations in the US

Lord Darzi, Executive Chair of the Fleming Initiative, led strategic visits to Washington D.C. and met with senior leaders in the US administration.

The Fleming Initiative continues to strengthen its commitment to global collaboration following Lord Darzi’s strategic visit to the US, engaging with leading institutions across industry, academia, government and philanthropy to explore opportunities to expand global collaboration in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

As guest of honour at an event hosted by the Right Honourable Lord Mandelson PC, British Ambassador to the US, Lord Darzi highlighted the unique multidisciplinary approach of the Fleming Initiative and potential areas for alignment, including food production and use of artificial intelligence.

Given the essential role of the US in making antibiotics available for public use for the first time, there is a strong legacy of global collaboration for the Fleming Initiative to build on. 

While Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first known antibiotic, it was only with the support of businessman and philanthropist JD Rockefeller and his connections with the US administration and pharmaceutical industry that mass production of penicillin was made possible.

I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and leadership we encountered during our visit to the US and I look forward to building on these conversations to forge collaborations with US partners that drive real, global impact. Lord Ara Darzi Executive Chair of the Fleming Initiative

The Fleming Initiative, under Lord Darzi’s leadership, recognises that global collaboration of a wide range of partners - from scientists to researchers, policymakers and the public - is again essential for tackling the growing threat of AMR, to protect Sir Alexander Fleming’s legacy and save lives.

Several follow-up visits and discussions were arranged to further explore areas of mutual interest between the Fleming Initiative and US institutions, including productive conversations with senior leaders in the US administration, where Lord Darzi shared the Fleming Initiative’s vision for tackling AMR.

This visit builds on the momentum of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York in 2024, at which the Fleming Initiative hosted several high-impact fringe events and delivered a Times Square public-awareness billboard campaign on AMR.

Lord Darzi said: “Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time. It demands solutions that are as global in scope as AMR itself. I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and leadership we encountered during our visit to the US and I look forward to building on these conversations to forge collaborations with US partners that drive real, global impact.”

Equitable solutions at a global scale

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes such as bacteria and fungi adapt and become resistant to the drugs we use to kill them and treat infections. Drug-resistant infections are more difficult to treat, meaning common infections and minor injuries can become life-threatening. 

Widespread misuse and overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs, from the food industry to the doctor’s surgery and the hospital bedside, has led to the global spread of these drug-resistant microbes.

If we don’t tackle the problem of AMR, drug-resistant infections have the potential to become a global humanitarian crisis, responsible for at least 8 million lives lost yearly by 2050.   

With the funding and support of its partners – including Cepheid, GSK, LifeArc, and Optum – the Fleming Initiative will launch global programmes of work to address the drivers of AMR, develop international networks of AMR expertise, and outline strategic research themes to rapidly advance solutions to these urgent challenges.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an area of focus for the Fleming Initiative that will be supported by further US collaboration, which will build on the launch of a Google DeepMind Academic Fellowship focused on the intersection of AI and AMR, hosted by the Fleming Initiative at Imperial College London, and the publication of a joint report with Google DeepMind. 

AI-powered technologies could be transformative in the AMR crisis, from enabling clinicians to make rapid diagnosis at point of need and helping discover new drugs that can tackle emerging resistant infections, to predicting the spread of resistant bacteria.           

Finding Solutions Together

In September 2024, the Fleming Initiative’s ‘Every 11 Seconds’ Times Square billboard campaign raised awareness of AMR amongst local New York City audiences, highlighting that someone in the US contracts an antibiotic resistant infection every 11 seconds on average [1]. 

Engaging the New York City public with the conversation that global leaders were having at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR was a priority for the Fleming Initiative, which centres public engagement and involvement in its work. 

AMR is not simply a scientific problem requiring scientific solutions. It is an issue in which public understanding, human behaviour and collective action can play a significant part in its resolution. 

Strengthening the Fleming Initiative’s commitment to global collaboration will better enable it to bring the global public together with scientists, policymakers, clinicians, and commercial partners to provide equitable solutions to antimicrobial resistance at a global scale.

Imperial Global USA

Fostering greater collaboration to meet global grand challenges is a key focus area for Imperial, founding partner of the Fleming Initiative, with its Science for Humanity Strategy highlighting the importance of amplifying Imperial College London’s impact through a network of hubs in strategic global cities.

Imperial Global USA launched in San Francisco last year, making Imperial the first UK university to have a permanent science and tech base on US soil.

The hub will support new science and technology partnerships, advancing Imperial’s pursuit of Convergence Science, by making it even easier for innovators partnering on both sides of the Atlantic to fund and scale their research and create solutions to some of the hardest global challenges.

[1] – 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)