Such information is important to predict/define antibiotic treatment responses and strengthen antibiotic stewardship programmes.

For example, we are measuring in vitro and intracellular killing activities of azithromycin and comparing that with the patient’s treatment responses to azithromycin from the ACT-South Asia trial to evaluate its ongoing efficacy, devise appropriate dosing regimens, and inform effective antibiotic stewardship.

Furthermore, in vitro testing of new antibiotics such as ceftazidime-avibactam, ceftolozane-tazobactam, new beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli exhibiting diverse molecular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance is being conducted in our lab.