Three large collaborative grants, totalling £9.5m, have been announced by the MRC as part of a cross-council initiative to help tackle the rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The awards mark one of the biggest investments into AMR since the initiative launched and will use new technology to exploit natural compounds, develop a tool to offer better diagnostics and explore how the body’s own immune system can be boosted to fight infection.

The latest round of awards has been funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the AMR cross-council initiative, established in 2014 as part of a strategic and coordinated effort to address the growing problem head on.

The three projects are being led by teams at the University of Bristol, University of Leeds and University of Sheffield. To find out more about these large collaborative grants, please visit the MRC website.