McMaster University professor among winners of $100K prize for Canada's top researchers

Getting food poisoning while travelling overseas gave an internationally renowned Canadian scientist some harrowing insights into antimicrobial resistance, the very topic that his decades of related research have now earned him a $100,000 Killam Prize.

Gerry Wright, a professor at Hamilton's McMaster University, was one of five scholars announced Tuesday to each receive the cash award for outstanding contributions in their respective fields of health sciences, engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.

Wright was recognized for his expertise in bacteria and viruses evolving in ways that make antibiotics less effective in treating infections, and for co-founding an advanced course on antibiotic resistance at a facility in France for researchers, clinicians and policymakers from around the world.

Antimicrobial resistance is increasingly becoming a major threat to public health, he said in an interview, recounting his own experience with a salmonella infection a decade ago on a trip to Europe, where he was prescribed an antibiotic that did not work.

"The salmonella got into my bloodstream, which is not common," Wright said. "The first antibiotic that I was given should have cleared up the infection in a couple of days, and it didn't."

Wright was hospitalized and given a second antibiotic intravenously to overcome the infection.

"I do know what it's like to be lying in bed and thinking, 'This should not be happening' because I grew up with antibiotics, like everybody did. So, it's personal."

Besides natural evolution, microbes have become resistant to medications due to overuse and not being taken for the full course of treatment as prescribed, allowing stronger bacteria to survive and spread so that "we're losing our grip" on the progress made in treating infections, Wright said.

"People don't see their loved ones dying from infectious diseases anymore. And the flip side of the resistance problem is that antibiotics have, in the past, worked so incredibly well that we completely take that for granted," Wright said.

"The human race won't be wiped out but we'll just go back to where infection is a leading cause of death after we gained over 20 years of life expectancy since of the beginning of the 20th century."

Researchers at Université Laval, York U and U of T among winners

Other Killam Prize winners this year are Clement Gosselin and Sylvain Moineau, both of Université Laval, for their work in engineering and natural sciences, respectively; Janine Marchessault of York University for her work in humanities, specifically in media and art activism; and University of Toronto anthropology professor Tania Li for her contributions to social sciences.

The National Research Council of Canada made the announcement Tuesday on behalf of the Dorothy J. Killam trust, which has provided more than $1 billion to distinguished scholars since 1981.

Misinformation is one of the biggest threats to antimicrobial resistance, and it's important for researchers to learn some lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic so they can "be on guard" and combat potentially harmful ideas, said Wright, adding that could be challenging.

"Scientists and clinicians really rely on evidence-based studies. And our approaches, our communication is not as instantaneous as people who have something to sell," he said of those promoting alternative products online.

Another challenge is creating new antibiotics because the return on investment would be so low for drugs that are used for only about five to seven days compared to those for high blood pressure or diabetes, for example, Wright said.

"We have to change the way people who make antibiotics get paid," he said, comparing them to influenza vaccines, which are sold in bulk by the millions every year through government contracts.

The World Health Organization says on its website that bacterial antimicrobial resistance was directly responsible for the deaths of nearly 1.3 million people in 2019, and that it contributed to nearly five million deaths that year.

Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens, it says.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.