Project overview
This award will allow us to establish a new synergistic partnership between the UK’s National Biofilm Innovation Centre (NBIC) and the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) in Ghana. Biofilms are implicated in some of the most critical global challenges and have significant economic impact across multiple sectors. They are a leading cause of chronic infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), described in June 2021 by G7 Health Ministers as a “silent pandemic”1 and the cause of at least 700,000 deaths globally each year. This is predicated to rise to 10M deaths a year and cost US$100Tn in world GDP by 2050 if no action is taken2. In the UK, biofilm-mediated chronic infections are estimated to cost the NHS £7.2Bn per annum3. NBIC represents a fusion of world-class research and industry to deliver breakthrough technologies in the control and exploitation of biofilms. Established in 2017, it is an interdisciplinary centre, bringing together 4 lead and 59 associate UK universities and their infrastructure, and support from a growing industry hub of over 250 companies (SME to multinational) across multiple sectors where biofilms offer both problems and opportunities. Given their global importance, NBIC is strongly committed to establishing new international partnerships to bring together the wide and diverse range of perspectives, needs and expertise required to address biofilm-related challenges. WACCBIP is one of the World Bank’s Centres of Excellence at the University of Ghana. It was founded in 2013 and is led by faculty from the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) The centre conducts applied research into the biology and pathogenesis of tropical diseases and aims to increase research and innovation by enhancing collaboration among biomedical scientists and industry leaders across Africa.
