Whole Genome Sequencing, Targeted Detection of Resistance Genes

Combating the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant clinical and public health burden, with a recent comprehensive assessment estimating global death rates to be higher than HIV/AIDs or malaria.

Approaches to combating the spread of antimicrobial resistance include, among other initiatives, promoting a thorough understanding of resistance mechanisms and the prudent use of antimicrobials.

Whole genome sequencing provides valuable insight into the genetic cause of resistance and has become a useful a tool for studying the emergence of antimicrobial resistance and developing novel antimicrobials.

While whole genome sequencing has the potential to be used as a clinical tool to detect the presence of resistance and help guide therapeutic decisions, antimicrobial susceptibly provides vital information for optimal clinical management.

Learning Objectives

This webinar will help you:

• Discuss the front-line challenges of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections from a clinical and laboratory perspective
• Describe the major recent advances regarding the detection of antimicrobial resistance
• Describe the benefits and limitations of the targeted detection of resistance genes
• Understand the importance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the clinical management of bacterial resistance

Watch on Demand       Download Slides (PDF, 1.4MB)

For research use only. Not for diagnostic procedures.

This webinar is produced by Whitehat Communications, a provider of continuing education programs in clinical laboratory sciences that has been approved by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.™ Program. One P.A.C.E. credit hour will be provided for this complimentary, basic-level program.

Dr. James A. McKinnell is an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also a member of the Infectious Disease Clinical Outcome Research Unit (ID-CORE) and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA. McKinnell is a nationally recognized infectious disease specialist with specific research interests related to the clinical management and prevention of healthcare-associated infections. He has published over 40 papers, many with emphasis on the optimal use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance within the community.

Dr. Omai Garner is an associate clinical professor and director of clinical microbiology within the UCLA Health System. He received his PhD from the University of California, San Diego, in biomedical sciences. Garner was a Postdoctoral Clinical Microbiology CPEP Fellow in the Department of Pathology at UCLA, and a former McNair Scholar. He is also Board Certified by the American Board of Medical Microbiology. Garner's research focuses on novel point-of-care devices for infectious disease diagnosis in the developing world.