Dr Hawkins will be leading on the plant health aspects - primarily fungicide resistance in plant pathogens.
This means, for example, that NIAB can access new diagnostic technologies being developed in the biomedical field, and assess and adapt them for use with veterinary and plant diseases.
This will lead to the development of new tests to track the spread of fungicide resistance in plant pathogens, helping to provide farmers with up-to-date advice on which crop protection measures are likely to be effective, and to compare the effect of different management practices on resistance levels.
The ARREST-AMR (Accurate, Rapid, Robust, and Economical One Health Diagnostics for antimicrobial resistance) network will work alongside seven other networks to bring together diverse expertise from academia, industry, government, regulatory agencies, and charities.
They will foster collaborations, drive innovation, and develop effective strategies for implementing fit-for-purpose One Health AMR Diagnostics. The network will engage with stakeholders to assess the needs of each sector; co-ordinate cross-disciplinary meetings, exchange placements and training courses; conduct gap analyses to see where further research is most needed; and support proof of concept studies using new diagnostic technologies across different fields.
As well as Dr Hawkins at NIAB, the other members of the network’s leadership team are Professor Mark Bradley and Dr Seshasailam Venkateswaran, Queen Mary University of London; Prof Marieke Emonts- le Clercq, University of Newcastle; Dr Katherine Adam, University of Edinburgh; Dr Andrew Singer, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.