Planetary Health

Our research is shaped by the need to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on a global scale.

Our experts specialise in the health of the planet and environment, and find new ways of working towards the responsible use and disposal of antimicrobial drugs. A core strength of our research is how we progress understanding about the link between the health of humans, animals and ecosystems.

We explore how the environment is affected, from a microscopic level through to the biodiversity of the planet. We collaborate internationally to encourage informed antimicrobial use in treating illness and infection in people and animals, with an adaptable approach to each country.

One of the largest contributors to AMR is food production. Our team looks at ways to reduce the general use of antimicrobials in animal and plant husbandry whilst also increasing their sustainable use.

Planetary Health - primary investigators

Name	Role	Keywords
Professor William Gaze	Professor of Microbiology	Environment, policy, microbiome, evolution ecology, public health, agriculture, evidence
Dr Lihong Zhang	Research Fellow	Antibiotic resistance, molecular microbiology, environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, microbial ecology
Professor Steve Hinchliffe	Professor of Geography and Co-Director of Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health	One health, risk, microbiome, social relations
Professor Neil Gow	Professor of Microbiology and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Impact)	Antifungal drug transit, fungal cell wall, drug resistance mechanisms, Candida species, Candida auris, echinocandins novel antifungal therapies, combination therapy and immunotherapies
Dr Aimee Murray	Lecturer	Culturing, molecular methods (qPCR, cloning, functional metagenomics), next-generation sequencing, metagenome analyses, evolution experiments
Professor Lora Fleming	Director of the European Centre for Environment and Human Health and Chair of Oceans, Epidemiology and Human Health	Public health, epidemiology; oceans and human health; environment and human health
Professor Charles Tyler	Professor of Environmental Biology/ Academic Lead	Environmental contaminants, physiological processes, genetic techniques, genomic techniques
Dr Anne Leonard	Lecturer	Environment, policy, microbiome, ecology, public health, evidence
Professor Stuart Townley	Professor in Applied Mathematics	Systems modelling, analysis and management
Professor Henry Buller	Professor of Geography, Head of Exeter Geography	Social science approaches, one-health pathways, antimicrobial reduction in Thailand, antimicrobial use in livestock systems in Tanzania
Dr Mike Allen	Associate Professor of Single Cell Genomics	Antibiotics resistance, molecular microbiology, environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, microbial ecology, feed/energy conversion, oceans and human health; environment and human health, technology development
Professor Sarah Gurr	Chair in Food Security	Antifungals, fungicide resistance, evolution, global movement and stewardship of antifungals
Dr Phil Mitchelmore	Clinical Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine	Bronchiectasis, Cystic Fibrosis, lung disease, cross-infection, microbiome, antimicrobial resistance
Dr Michiel Vos	Senior Lecturer in Microbiology	Microbiology, evolutionary ecology, population genomics, bacterial genome evolution, ecology of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes