ARLG investigator, Executive Committee Member, and Innovations Working Group Chair, Helen Boucher, MD, FACP, FIDSA, spoke with Contagion about current challenges and progress in combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR). She sat for the video interview after delivering her Maxwell Finland Lecture,  “Running to Stand Still: Progress and Perils with AMR” at IDWeek 2022. “It [AMR] affects every one of us—you, me, our children—and I think it’s still not really understood and really embraced by many as a problem that affects them today,” says Dr. Boucher. Limited awareness about AMR, lack of antibiotics, and a gap in surveillance data to understand the extent of AMR in the United States are some of her primary concerns.

However, Dr. Boucher says she is encouraged by the progress being made to address AMR. The AMR Action Fund, a public-private collaboration, is investing $1 billion dollars to develop two to four new antibiotics by 2030. She also points out that 2019 CDC data shows infection prevention and stewardship have led to a decrease in some areas of resistance in hospitals.

Watch Dr. Boucher’s 2-minute interview on the Contagion Live website.