For World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, we spoke to passers-by about our work, raised awareness of this major health problem and explained the different ways the public can get involved in our research.

We want to make it easy for everyone in our society to get involved in our work. To do this we have been going out to our communities to grow our links, make new connections and learn. For example, we spent the morning of the 17 November 2025 at the “Being Well Place”. This community hub is located within the Grainger Market in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

On this occasion, we also wanted to raise awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). This occurs when infections no longer respond to treatments because bacteria and other microorganisms evolve to survive them. Members of the public shared their views on AMR by voting with a token. Through these conversations, we met 12 new people who voted that AMR should be a high priority for our research.

We would like to thank our insight panel who helped us shape these conversations and the voting activity. Two members of the insight panel also joined us to speak to people in Grainger Market on the day.

Peter Whittaker, a member of our insight panel, said:

“I enjoyed meeting the public and I was interested in their level of involvement in health research. Our interactive activity with a clear & concise question seemed to work well!”

Lois Neal, a member of our insight panel, said:

“When it comes down to it, folks from all walks of life and places can be found at the Grainger Market, even on a weekday morning! I spoke with members of our local communities and others visiting from London and Holland too. They all showed interest and asked questions. The counter in the pot task appealed to everyone! It was good to be out in a public place where there are people walking by. When they looked our way and showed an interest it was easy to respond with a positive invitation to let us explain more about what we do and how we do it as a part of helping health research be better for all peoples.”

All in all, we are delighted that several people we met are keen to stay connected with us. We would like to keep building our links so please get in touch if you would like to highlight an upcoming event or awareness day that we could support. You can e-mail us at: nihr.hrc-dxtecheval@newcastle.ac.uk

For more information about AMR you can visit: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/07/what-is-antimicrobial-resistance-amr-and-how-can-you-combat-it/

Find out more about our research in Infection and AMR