Patrick Harris

The science funding system is BROKEN. PhDs and professors are spending their days writing grant proposals rather than conducting research that could transform millions of lives. And the worst part? The system REWARDS predictable, safe, incremental science. It PUNISHES radical ideas and moonshots.

Novel transposon Tn8026 acts as a global driver of transmissible linezolid resistance in Enterococcus via a linear plasmid medrxiv.org/content/10.648…

🆕⚡🟢PRUDENCE RCT A pragmatic, randomised controlled clinical trial in 13 countries Point-of-care testing strategy versus usual care to safely reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in primary care A point-of-care testing strategy for respiratory tract infection, which included testing for CRP, group A streptococcus, and influenza, did not reduce antibiotic prescribing when clinicians were considering prescribing or had planned to prescribe an antibiotic. Point-of-care testing is unlikely to be effective as a standalone solution in antimicrobial stewardship. @BradSpellberg Thanks @Inox94 thelancet.com/journals/lanpr…

omg this title, this paper

Super interesting case report: CZA + Aztreonam failed against NDM E. coli! 😳 Knowing the isolate has NDM isn’t enough anymore – you have to go the extra mile. 🆕⚡🟢 Optimizing target inactivation to treat MDR E. coli with NDM & PBP3 mutations –ID geeks only!😎 #IDXposts journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aa…

Step 1: Insert bacteria ("Wolbachia") into mosquitoes. Step 2: Release mosquitoes. Step 3: Watch Dengue rates plummet. Phenomenal results from Singapore. Link: tinyurl.com/59c9t67u, by Lim et al.

Metatranscriptomic Identification of Trubanaman Virus Sequences in Patient with Encephalitis, Australia wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31…

Really saddened to hear of the passing on of Prof Nick White... a true giant in malaria research on whose shoulders many of us stand. Condolences to his family, colleagues and friends. Rest in peace Nick. ndm.ox.ac.uk/news/professor…

I would encourage people in Australia who care about research to take a look and join this pressure campaign to make better use of MRFF funds @Mon4Kooyong moniqueryan.com.au/medical_resear…

Host Transcriptomics and Culture‐Independent Testing for the Management of Febrile Neutropenia: Data From an Observational Study Conducted in a BMT Unit onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ej… @annaperix @davidantibiotic @UQ_News

🆕⚡🌟Narrative Review @CMIJournal Mechanisms of resistance to newer drugs against Gram negative bacteria in Enterobacterales #IDXposts clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.org/article/S1198-…

🆕🔥 Review article Filling the Gaps: A Review and Update on Beta-Lactamase Inhibitor Combinations #IDXposts link.springer.com/article/10.100…

In the words of a world-renowned cardiologist, Australia’s young medical researchers are “left to flounder with total job insecurity and family pressures. It’s the best recipe we have for raiding our future, in terms of a medical research workforce and the benefits of medical research, which are profound and help everyone.” Why won't the government release the billions already putting aside for the sector in the Medical Research Future Fund? Why is it raiding the country’s future? Medical research matters. theage.com.au/politics/feder…

Imagine a system that requires scientists to spend 30-50% of their time to write and submit grant proposals that take 18 months to get funding if accepted immediately (rare) but more typically 3-5 years because require 1-2 resubmissions and not uncommonly 5-8 years Reform needed

I am excited to share that my fourth paper of 2025 is finally out. Perfect timing to conclude the year. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/sp…

The NHMRC yesterday announced final allocations for the year. The 2025 success rate for Ideas grants was 10%, Investigator grants 13%, and Clinical Trials 9%. Australia's total spend on healthcare and technology innovation in medicine and biotech from the Medical Research Endowment Account and Medical Research Future Fund this year will equate to the cost of 0.004 submarines. We're spending more on a single submarine than we'll spend on medical research in 30 years. Medical research matters. A clever country invests in the things that matter.

Co-isolation of genetically distinct Burkholderia pseudomallei strains from a single patient in North Queensland. Well done @pmlcoulon ! journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

🆕🔥🦴 Our 2025 Update to @WikiGuidelines for the Management of Pyogenic Osteomyelitis in Adults 🌟 @BradSpellberg 🧪 Diagnosis 🔹 Nuclear scans & paravertebral biopsies → high accuracy 🔹 Bone histopathology > culture 🔹 MRSA nares negative → >90% NPV for DFO 🔹 PEDD > CT-guided biopsy for spinal osteomyelitis ⚠️ ESR, procalcitonin, CRP → poor reliability 💊 Treatment ✅ Combined medical + surgical care improves outcomes ✅ Oral ≈ IV therapy; IV lead-in optional (POvIV 10th RCT confirms) ✅ Cephradine, cephalexin, cefadroxil, doxycycline, tedizolid → oral options 🧬 Rifampin adjunct → may reduce PJI/vertebral osteomyelitis failure ⚠️ Long-acting lipoglycopeptides → limited data, high cost 🔪 Surgery ⚖️ One- vs two-stage prosthetic exchange → similar outcomes 🩻 MRI pre-amputation (DFI) → lower re-amputation risk (16% vs 32%) 📌 Residual osteomyelitis on histopathology → poor predictor 💡 Takeaway: Oral therapy works; combine medical & surgical care; tailor surgery with imaging. 🔗 Full WikiGuideline: [link] amjmed.com/article/S0002-…

@DrToddLee @PaulSaxMD @AlexLawandi Yes so many assumptions that seem plausible but not really based on much except “vibes” … ceftriaxone even if non-effective will likely still have influence on things like AmpC expression and selection for de-repressed mutants in pseudomonas ..

@PaulSaxMD @AlexLawandi The concept of using drugs like ceftriaxone to avoid pseudomonas activity and therefore prevent resistance

Pseudomonas sparing antibiotics --- this myth is about to be busted hard @AlexLawandi

Interested in doing a PhD in Queensland Australia? - using infrared spectroscopy to detect #AMR in wastewater .. details below study.uq.edu.au/study-options/…