Antibiotic Resistance Evolution in Aquatic Environments

Our current understanding of wastewater treatment is not sufficient to meet future demands on water quality and environmental security. Especially the release of antibiotic resistant bacteria to the environment has become a major threat to society. A new combination of experiments and model developments is required in order to understand the dynamics of these antibiotic resistant bacteria in environmental compartments and to develop tools and settings that can be applied to reduce the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes.

This project will evaluate the impact of anthropogenic and ecological factors on antibiotic resistance associated horizontal gene transfer in sewage systems. This project is part of the funding initiative TUD People - Support the best and a cooperative work between the Inst. of Hydrobiology, the Chair of Urban Water Management and the Chair of Forest Biometrics and Systems Analysis, where I'm acting as an advisory member.