Nguyen named selected researcher for new, global program fighting antimicrobial resistance

CEE Professor and Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering Helen Nguyen has been named as one of 17 researchers chosen to participate in Resistance Networks — a new Wellcome Leap program focused on reducing the threat of antimicrobial resistance. 

Antibiotics are a foundation of modern medicine and have saved hundreds of millions of lives since their discovery. But the spread of antimicrobial resistance continues to drain them of their life-saving power, leaving those who rely on them to treat common infections, as well as the millions who require them to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, and organ transplants, vulnerable. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant infections is therefore a major and growing global public health threat. 

AMR’s ability to proliferate not only through the movement of already resistant bacteria, but also through transmission of resistance's genetic instructions on small pieces of DNA, makes it particularly complex. Resistance Networks proposes a new framework to approach AMR, one that applies epidemiological methods to track its spread and detect the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in bacterial networks long before untreatable infections reach clinical scale.  

Through collaboration between the 17 selected researchers, the program seeks to build an epidemiological model that can predict whether a small piece of DNA carrying antibiotic resistance genes has epidemic-level potential. By improving detection capabilities, Resistance Networks hopes to create opportunities for early intervention that will slow or stop AMR and lengthen the efficacy of current and future antibiotics. 

Nguyen's extensive research studying antimicrobial resistance, and specific expertise in environmental surveillance of pathogens through wastewater, makes her uniquely positioned to contribute to Resistance Networks' mission. Most recently, she received the AGU 2025 Geo-Health Section Award in recognition of her leadership in AMR research and in wastewater-based epidemiology during the COVID-19 pandemic, and additionally spent six months in Southeast Asia as a 2025 Fulbright Scholar investigating how AMR in the environment translates to human health impacts. She has also spent additional time in Vietnam leading a project that addressed AMR by providing farmers access to trustworthy, low-cost veterinary services to encourage responsible antibiotic use when caring for food-producing animals. 

Nguyen's work with Resistance Networks will be in collaboration with Hien T.T. Ngo of VinUniversity in Vietnam.