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University of Groningen joins NCOH as Partner

On 1 July 2022, the University of Groningen (UG) joined the Netherlands Center for One Health (NCOH) as a new Partner. Bert Poolman, professor Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science and Engineering: ‘Researchers from the University of Groningen contributing to NCOH cover a range of scientific disciplines, from biology, chemistry, pharmaceutical science to medicine’.

Exchange of knowledge and experience

Within these scientific disciplines, UG has expertise available in the discovery, engineering, (bio)synthesis and further clinical development of novel antimicrobials as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in pathogens, which connects to the NCOH theme Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance and activities of NCOH partners in, among others, Leiden, Utrecht, and Wageningen. From ecological, evolutionary, and epidemiological perspectives related to pathogenic microorganisms and viruses, contributions to the themes Healthy Wildlife & Ecosystems, and Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness are also foreseen.

“Antimicrobial resistance is steadily emerging as a pandemic threat that can only be addressed by concerted efforts such as the One Health approach in which many stakeholders are involved”, says professor Bert Poolman, UG representative in the NCOH Executive Board. UG will strengthen the NCOH research agenda on AMR through bringing in researchers involved in Groningen’s Centre for Sustainable Antimicrobials (CeSAM) and scientists pursuing ecological and evolutionary research lines, for instance, connected to animal and human microbiomes. In 2015, the UG together with the University Medical Centre Groningen united local research activities for tackling the problems of antimicrobial resistance in Centre for Sustainable Antimicrobials. CeSAM takes a dual approach, that is both bottom-up discovery, engineering and (bio)synthesis of novel antimicrobials and top-down development of stewardship and clinically-based theragnostic concepts for prevention and treatment of patients.

Partner of NCOH

NCOH unites experts from Amsterdam UMC, Erasmus MC, Leiden University, LUMC, Radboudumc, Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, Wageningen University & Research, and now thus the University of Groningen, in the areas of human and animal health, thereby forming a strong academic network on infectious diseases in the Netherlands. Infectious diseases have an increasingly large impact on the health of humans and animals, particularly in densely-populated countries like the Netherlands.