Dr Peiffer-Smadja is currently undertaking a collaborative PhD with the IAME laboratory (Inserm) & the NIHR HPRU in HCAIs and AMR

Dr Nathan Peiffer-Smadja, currently undertaking a collaborative PhD with the IAME laboratory (Inserm) and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in HCAIs and AMR, has been awarded the annual grant of the French Association of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ACAI).

The award is 35 k€ in order to develop a collaborative project on antimicrobials and has never before been awarded to work based on primary care prescribing. Nathan’s PhD is "Evaluation and implementation of clinical decision support systems for antimicrobial prescribing" co-supervised by Dr Raheelah Ahmad (HPRU) and François-Xavier Lescure (IAME lab) and funded by the Regional Health Agency of Paris.

The first objective of Nathan's work is to evaluate which clinical decision support systems for antimicrobial prescribing are being used in primary care, both in France and in the UK, and to understand the barriers, the facilitators and the limits to their wider use.

The second objective is to work with the ASPIRES project (Antibiotic use across Surgical Pathways - Investigating, Redesigning and Evaluating Systems) to assess the potential for implementation of tailored clinical decision support systems for antimicrobial prescribing in low- and middle-income countries. 

This award recognises the increasing importance of optimising antimicrobial prescribing in primary care to control antimicrobial resistance. This project is also part of a broader reflection on the role of electronic tools and artificial intelligence in the medical practice of today and tomorrow as it seems essential to understand how electronic tools can help physicians in their clinical practice without replacing them. Imperial College and the HPRU have already proved to be the perfect (and very welcoming) environment to tackle this complex and multidisciplinary topic!