Dr Jody Winter recently contributed to a successful ERASMUS+ International Credit Mobility bid that will allow Microbiology staff and students from NTU and Makerere University, Uganda to take part in exchange visits to each other's universities. The project, funded for the next 3 years, will see NTU and Makerere students taking part in summer research placements in Uganda and the UK, respectively. This will be a unique opportunity for UK-based and African students to experience different educational environments and to work on projects that will contribute to strengthening research links between microbiologists at Makerere University and NTU.

The NTU Microbiology team, led by Dr Jody Winter, will also support joint research projects on plants with antimicrobial activities between NTU, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mount Kenya University and Brackenhurst Kenya Ltd as part of a second funded ERASMUS+ International Credit Mobility project.

We are delighted to contribute to these projects and look forward to welcoming African microbiologists to NTU in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future.

Antimicrobial stewardship promotes responsible use of antimicrobials to prevent the development of antimicrobial resistance. Implementation of antimicrobial stewardship remains poor in many low- and middle-income countries. Using a one-health approach, for the past 2 years a team of academics from Nottingham Trent University and Makerere University, Uganda and pharmacists and healthcare professionals from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have been working together on a project to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship in Wakiso District, Uganda. You can read all about the excellent outcomes from this exciting project here. 
 
Musoke D, Kitutu FE, Mugisha L, et al. A one health approach to strengthening antimicrobial stewardship in Wakiso District, Uganda. Antibiotics. 2020; doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9110764.  
 
This is not the end of NTU and AROM’s work on antimicrobial stewardship and resistance in Uganda. As part of a recently funded ERASMUS project, microbiology students from NTU and Makerere University will have the opportunity to work at each other’s universities on joint summer research placements. This will be a unique opportunity for UK-based and African students to experience different educational environments and to work on projects that will contribute to strengthening research links between Makerere University and NTU.

The NTU Microbiology team, led by Dr Jody Winter, will also support joint research projects on plants with antimicrobial activities between NTU, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mount Kenya University and Brackenhurst Kenya Ltd as part of a second recently funded ERASMUS programme.

We're delighted our work with colleagues at the University of East Anglia and the Quadram Institute has been published.

Using faecal microbiota transplants in mice, we have shown that giving the gut microbiota of old mice to young mice has measurable effects on the central nervous system. This work has important implications for understanding how aging and the microbiota influence neurological function, and may allow us to develop methods to target the microbiota to assist 'healthy aging'. Watch the video below to find out more about this exciting work!

D’Amato, A., Di Cesare Mannelli, L., Lucarini, E. et al. Faecal microbiota transplant from aged donor mice affects spatial learning and memory via modulating hippocampal synaptic plasticity- and neurotransmission-related proteins in young recipients. Microbiome. 2020;doi.org/10.1186/s40168-020-00914-w.