Dr Adam Roberts

Reader and AMR lead, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and RSTMH Policy Adviser

Adam Roberts is a Reader and AMR lead at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Adam has been investigating the fundamental mechanisms of transferable AMR for more than 20 years and, since arriving at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2017, has focussed on translational aspects of AMR and early stage drug discovery and development.

His current research activities include investigations into the many drivers of resistance in a One Health context, the molecular genetics of resistance mechanisms and mobile genetic elements and how they contribute to the dissemination of AMR and the use of evolutionary biology to inform antibiotic treatment regimens and drug design. His team also carry out discovery projects; investigating novel antimicrobial natural products, target-site identification, mechanism of action, and determining the resistance development potential of novel molecules within the LSTM’s drug development pipeline.

Adam’s research activities have led to more than 100 peer reviewed publications and reviews on AMR and his group is currently funded by the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, UK Research and Innovation’s Strength in Places Fund, and the European Regional Development Fund plus various charities including the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Foundation.

He runs The Transposon Registry and the award winning citizen-science, drug-discovery project Swab and Send, is the Network coordinator of the JPIAMR Network of European and African Researchers on AMR (NEAR-AMR) and is a policy adviser (Drug Resistance) to the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.