Award for excellent thesis on antimicrobial resistance

During the 2022 PhD graduation ceremony, Dr Laura de Nies, who obtained her PhD at the LCSB, received an Excellent Thesis Award for her work on “Microbiome reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance”. This award presented by the University of Luxembourg recognises the exceptional quality of the research conducted by a doctoral graduate.

As a PhD student in the Systems Ecology group, Laura de Nies worked on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which occurs when microbes evolve over time and no longer respond to antibiotic drugs, making bacterial infections harder to treat. “AMR presents a global threat to public health as emerging resistant bacteria residing within human, animal and environmental reservoirs may spread,” she explains.

To better understand the spread of AMR, she studied antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in different samples, from the gut microbiomes of infants and mice to microbial communities in wastewater treatment plants and glacierfed streams. The results obtained during her PhD, which have already been published in several scientific journals, improve our understanding of antimicrobial resistance and indicate possible transmission routes for its dissemination from the environment to humans. ¢ Watch the Video