PhD offer – Transmission, Reservoir and Diversity of Pathogens Unit, Institut Pasteur of Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
Project title: « One Health: AMR in environmental reservoirs and Colonizing antibiotic resistant bacteria »
Candidate profile: Applicants must have a solid background in bacteriology. Experience in bioinformatics will be highly appreciated.
Rationale: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has dramatically changed the management of infectious diseases in the last decade due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria, and is recognized as a major health issue by the WHO. The burden of infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) has increased in the last decade. However, the epidemiology of AMR is complex, and has to be considered in a holistic manner, integrating humans, animals and the environment. The effect of clinically relevant antibiotic-resistance genes (ARG) and ARB that are released from anthropogenic sources, together with the overuse/misuse of antibiotics in both human and veterinary settings, is currently considered to be a serious environmental problem. We aim to characterize the AMR transmission routes from clinical settings (hospital effluents from University Hospital of Guadeloupe), to the natural receiving environment (wild animals and ocean). We will use an approach with characterization of ARB their genes and mobile elements (MGE) coupled with the analysis of susceptible E. coli and ESBL resistant E. coli based on extensive whole genome and plasmidome sequences. All these data will allow us to dissect the routes of AMR transmission and the obtained relationship will serve for a phenomenological model. This project (« ACRAS-R ») is supported by a grant from the « French National Research Agency » and is based on a French (Guadeloupe, Limoges and Paris) and German (Dresden) consortium.
Candidate role: The candidate will be involved in the project mentioned above (sampling campaign, E. coli genomic and plasmidic analysis).
Duration: 3 years (start November 2020)
Location: The position will be based at the Institut Pasteur of Guadeloupe. Morne Jolivière 97139 Les Abymes.
Contacts for information request: Pr Sébastien Breurec (sbreurec@gmail.com)
How to candidate: curriculum vitae and motivation letter should be sent to Pr Sébastien Breurec (sbreurec@gmail.com)
Deadline for applications: 15th October, 2020
