We aim to demonstrate the rich social-material worlds that antimicrobials inhabit and travel within, and in doing so offer policy-makers, scientists, and funders new ways to conceptualise and act upon AMR.

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Our use of antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics, has escalated. These medicines are now a routine part of everyday life. For example, we use antibiotics not only to cure infections but in anticipation of infection for people, animals, and crops. We propose that the ways antibiotics are used is deeply embedded in the way our societies, politics, and economies work. It is important to understand the extent and nature of the way we have become intertwined with these medicines in order to understand the consequences of resistance and the best ways to reduce the threat of resistance.

The AMIS Hub is an online resource, curated by anthropologists at the LSHTM, that brings together research relevant to AMR from across different social science disciplines. Aimed at those designing and implementing AMR policy, as well as funders and researchers from the life sciences, the AMIS Hub introduces readers to a wealth of relevant social research on AMR. The AMIS Hub materials include research summaries, blogs ‘from the field’, and reviews of existing and ongoing research and theory. We envision the Hub as a mechanism for policy-makers and life scientists to engage with social science research on AMR, to forge future collaborations and to inspire new ways to address AMR. Follow updates on Hub activities through our AMIS newsletters, a monthly update on recent publication and events.

The AMIS Programme also includes two empirical research projects in Thailand and Uganda. Drawing on novel research tools from anthropology, the mapping of antibiotic roles in society, and collaborations with our diverse stakeholders across these countries, the AMIS projects in Thailand and Uganda seek to open the field of AMR research beyond its traditional boundaries.

Funders

AMIS is funded by The Antimicrobial Resistance Cross Council Initiative supported by the seven research councils in partnership with other funders. The lead funders are the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) with the Department of Health and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).