Advancing the AMR Response: Why Diagnostics, Collaboration, and Action Matter

Seeing the problem from both sides of care

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not abstract to me. I see it at the bedside and as a scientist. As a physician, I often care for patients with a degree of uncertainty, making quick decisions without all the information I’d like to have. As a scientist, I see how these choices shape resistance patterns that impact health systems.

That dual perspective is part of what drew me to my current role at Danaher, where I can work at scale across diagnostic technologies and solutions to connect scientific insight to clinical impact. Addressing AMR requires more than innovation: It also takes coordination, speed, and shared responsibility.

AMR: a biological reality we cannot ignore

Antimicrobial resistance is a fundamental part of biology. Even in environments untouched by modern medicine, bacteria exhibit antibiotic resistance, and evolution ensures it will always be present. What has changed is the pressure we apply. Antibiotics are essential, but every use allows resistant organisms to survive and spread, accelerating evolution. We cannot stop this process, but we can slow it by using antibiotics more thoughtfully and targeting their use with timely, accurate information.

The clinical challenge: acting with imperfect information

In daily practice, clinicians constantly balance the needs of individual patients with the responsibility to preserve antibiotic effectiveness. Unnecessary use accelerates resistance, yet delaying treatment for serious infection carries real risk. Without real‑time data, decisions about whether and how to treat are often made amid uncertainty. This is where diagnostics matter, enabling faster, more confident, and more targeted care.

Why collaboration across disciplines matters

No single group can solve AMR. Clinicians, labs, infection prevention, stewardship, pharmacists, microbiologists, and patients all play unique roles.

The real impact comes when these perspectives converge, ensuring diagnostic insights translate into timely action that supports patient care and protects the healthcare environment. Too often, groups operate in parallel rather than in concert.

Surveillance data only has value if it arrives in time.

To clinicians, surveillance data is most helpful when it is available and actionable. When patients arrive, isolation and treatment decisions must be immediate. Without rapid data, precautionary isolation is the default.

Prolonged isolation, while well-intended, limits clinical interaction, affects patient experience, and strains resources. Rapid screening lets teams stop unnecessary isolation or start targeted precautions sooner.

The same applies to antibiotic decisions. Knowing a patient’s likelihood of having a resistant infection supports better empiric therapy and helps avoid unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Screening: protecting both the individual and the system

Screening for resistant organisms, such as carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), supports both infection control and future care. Even in the absence of infection, knowing a patient’s colonization status helps guide timely treatment decisions if severe infection develops. Identifying carriers also enables targeted precautions, reducing transmission and protecting vulnerable patients.

Turning diagnostics into action

Diagnostic tools only have value when integrated into care pathways. Tests must be ordered at the right time, reach the right people, and prompt clear actions.

If results go unused, their value is lost. Embedded in routine workflows, diagnostics guide decisions, improve placement, aid stewardship, and strengthen infection prevention.

This is where diagnostics companies can make a meaningful difference, not only by developing reliable tools but by helping healthcare systems apply them effectively.

Moving forward together

AMR cannot be solved by a single intervention. Progress depends on coordination across diagnostics, clinical care, stewardship, and policy. Diagnostics play a central role, but their impact is realized through collaboration and timely, actionable use, enabling better decisions for patients today while helping protect effectiveness for the future.