A multi-country project funded by a Wellcome Collaborative Award, FORESFA aims to improve understanding of the epidemiology of substandard and falsified (SF) antimicrobials and their impact on global public health. The project involves adapting and evaluating forensic tools to identify sources and trade routes of falsified antimicrobials. Collaborators are also investigating the public health impact of SF medicines to inform global policy and improve the global medicine supply.
FORESFA Collaboration members come from a range of fields including forensic and environmental sciences, genomic surveillance, archaeological sciences, representatives of the WHO and the pharmaceutical industry.
The meeting welcomed new collaborators from Staffordshire University, Cranfield University, University of Lausanne, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Bristol University and the Departments of Earth Sciences and of Archaeology and the Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance at Oxford University.
During the meeting, working groups presented in interactive sessions on their FORESFA projects and plans for the final year of the Wellcome Collaborative Award. These included:
- Analysis of network structures of national and transnational organised crime groups and investigates how they operate and solve trust-related questions
- The Medicine Quality Monitoring Globe and the future role of artificial intelligence (AI)
- The public health impact of SF medicines, including the study of the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in treating malaria and typhoid with SF medicines using different models
- Laboratory analysis results on analysis of the composition of falsified tablets, including the environmental DNA (the 'pharmabiome') within, the stable isotope composition of their components such as starch, and forensic packaging and tablet analysis
- Policy and public engagement and plans for the next Medicine Quality and Public Health Conference in 2026.
Attendees also visited an exhibition on falsified medicines in the History of Science Museum, in Oxford.
“It was fantastic to see how FORESFA has evolved through collaborations with experts from very different fields,” said Dr Cathrin Hauk, Research Pharmacist and FORESFA Coordinator, in MORU’s Medicine Quality Research Group (MQRG). “It is a great pleasure to work with such a motivated team on this interesting and multifaceted topic.”
Dr Laura Wilkinson, of Staffordshire University, said: "I really enjoyed being able to present the work carried out by Staffordshire University for the FORESFA project and gain some valuable feedback. It was a real pleasure to be able to meet the other members of the team and to listen to all of the fantastic work that they are carrying out for this incredibly interesting project."
- Text and photo courtesy of Samantha McGregor and IDDO.