Dr Christina Guo, an intern at Western Health in 2020, is part of a winning team in an international competition to minimise the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Along with teammate Dr Charlotte O’Leary, Christina was invited to Geneva to present to experts from the World Health Organization during World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2019.

Her proposal aims to tackle skin and soft tissue infections that cause heavy antibiotic use in rural and remote Indigenous communities of Australia. The prevalence of drug­resistant Staphyloccocus aureus is doubled in Australia’s remote areas compared to urban centres. To address this, their project, the Namakuli program, is a regionally coordinated, mobile van-based community skin infection program for remote Indigenous communities in the Top End of Australia.

Their project was selected among 163 proposals submitted to the competition, lnnovate4AM R, organised by ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance, the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) and the South Centre. The team placed equal first after pitching their proposal at the final workshop in Geneva, Switzerland, from the 21st-23rd of November, 2019.