GEMS 2027 Thematic Cluster: A Closed-Loop One Health Platform for Infection Detection, Treatment, and Antimicrobial Stewardship to mitigate Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex global health challenge driven by inappropriate antimicrobial use, delayed diagnosis of infection, persistent biofilm-associated wounds, and inadequate stewardship practices across clinical and community settings. Addressing this requires an integrated, system-level approach that connects infection detection, therapeutic intervention, and sustainable antimicrobial use within a unified One Health framework. This program proposes a closed-loop platform for precision infection management and antimicrobial stewardship, integrating biomedical innovation with behavioural and implementation science to reduce the burden of chronic infections and mitigate AMR.

Impact: By combining advanced diagnostic technologies, innovative wound therapeutics, and co-designed antimicrobial stewardship interventions, the program will lead to improved clinical decision-making while promoting responsible antimicrobial use across healthcare and community settings.

Project 1 (School of Pharmacy )

Development of next-generation fluorescent peptide probes for bacterial infection imaging  

Infectious diseases remain a major global health burden, with early and accurate diagnosis continuing to pose significant clinical challenges. Topical and wound-associated bacterial infections are particularly difficult to manage because bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation can reduce antibiotic susceptibility, delay healing, and complicate treatment decisions. This project aims to develop fluorescently labelled peptide probes for bacterial detection and infection imaging. The proposed work will optimise fluorophore–linker–peptide designs to enhance bacterial membrane interactions, support wash-free staining of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and improve selective bacterial detection over mammalian cells or sterile inflammatory backgrounds. Fluorescent labelling will enable direct visualisation and quantitative evaluation of bacterial uptake, localisation, and biofilm association in relevant infection models. The findings will guide the development of optimised peptide-based molecular probes with translational potential for rapid infection diagnosis, image-guided sampling, and point-of-care management.

For enquiries, please contact Dr Thet Thet Htar

For more information about this project, please visit our GEMS website.

How to Apply

When you apply for admission into your preferred degree program you will be able to select your scholarship type. No separate application is required.

By clicking on a course, you will be directed to further information, including details on ‘How to Apply’.

However, before applying for a GEMS, it is recommended that you first contact the main supervisor for this GEMS research topic. Please provide details of your academic background and achievements to the supervisor so that they can assess your suitability for the GEMS research topic you are interested in.

Main Supervisor (Malaysia):  Dr Thet Thet Htar

Associate Supervisor (Malaysia): Dr Polly Yap

Associate Supervisor (Australia): Dr Amandeep Kaur, Prof. Cornelia Landersdorfer

Project 2 (School of Pharmacy )

Development of a Multifunctional Anti-Biofilm Wound Dressing for Precision Infection Control and Accelerated Tissue Regeneration 

Chronic and infected wounds remain a major clinical burden due to persistent biofilm formation, delayed healing, and limited efficacy of conventional dressings. This project aims to develop a multifunctional anti-biofilm wound dressing designed for precision infection control and enhanced tissue regeneration. The dressing will integrate (i) anti-biofilm agent to disrupt the planktonic bacteria, (ii) controlled-release antimicrobial compounds to effectively control the infection, and (iii) bioactive compound that accelerates wound healing. The dressing is expected to modulate the wound microenvironment, allowing easy access of antimicrobial agents to the bacteria, and promoting angiogenesis simultaneously. The synergistic design is intended to accelerate wound closure while minimizing excessive antimicrobial use. This technology will be evaluated for its antimicrobial efficacy, biofilm disruption capability, and wound healing performance in relevant in vitro and in vivo models, with the long-term goal of enabling more effective and sustainable management of chronic wound infections.

For enquiries, please contact Assoc. Prof. Alice Chuah 

For more information about this project, please visit our GEMS website.

How to Apply

When you apply for admission into your preferred degree program you will be able to select your scholarship type. No separate application is required.

By clicking on a course, you will be directed to further information, including details on ‘How to Apply’.

However, before applying for a GEMS, it is recommended that you first contact the main supervisor for this GEMS research topic. Please provide details of your academic background and achievements to the supervisor so that they can assess your suitability for the GEMS research topic you are interested in.

Main Supervisor (Malaysia):  Assoc. Prof. Alice Chuah 

Associate Supervisor (Malaysia):Dr. Teoh Xin Yi

Associate Supervisor (Australia): Dr Yue Qu

Project 3 (School of Pharmacy)

Co-designing Community-Based Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions through a One Health Framework

This project addresses the behavioural, social and system-level drivers of inappropriate antimicrobial use in community settings using a One Health approach. The project will use qualitative interviews, focus groups and stakeholder mapping to identify local beliefs, decision-making pathways, barriers and opportunities influencing antimicrobial use. Participatory co-design workshops will then be conducted to develop context-specific AMS strategies such as community education tools, pharmacist-led counselling resources, referral pathways and decision-support materials. The co-designed intervention will be pilot-tested for feasibility, acceptability and early implementation outcomes, generating evidence to support scale-up across regional One Health settings.

For enquiries, please contact  Assoc. Prof. Alice Chuah 

For more information about this project, please visit our GEMS website.

How to Apply

When you apply for admission into your preferred degree program you will be able to select your scholarship type. No separate application is required.

By clicking on a course, you will be directed to further information, including details on ‘How to Apply’.

However, before applying for a GEMS, it is recommended that you first contact the main supervisor for this GEMS research topic. Please provide details of your academic background and achievements to the supervisor so that they can assess your suitability for the GEMS research topic you are interested in.

Main Supervisor (Malaysia): Assoc. Prof. Alice Chuah

Associate Supervisor (Malaysia): Dr Patrick Tan Hock Siew, Dr. Saw Pui San

Associate Supervisor (Australia): Assoc. Prof. Daniel Malone