The microbiologist Mohammed Elbediwi came to Freie Universität Berlin as a Rising Star in October 2022. He would like to use the fellowship to predict experimentally the antimicrobial resistance evolution in the ESKAPE pathogens.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents major global public health threat. The alarmingly increasing number of AMR bacteria throughout the world, which leads to patient deaths, prompted researchers to shift their attention towards alternatives for the current measures.

What is missing in current measures is the attempt to forecast the evolution of resistance to better validate our decisions and actions in antibiotic administration and therefore induce a transformative shift in antibiotic applications.

By using a novel device (EvolChip), Mohammed aims to forecast the AR evolution in ESKAPE pathogens which will lead towards lowering the risk of resistance development and therefore, sustainable use of the antimicrobial drugs in treatment of infections.

Mohammed has a strong experience in the molecular microbiology and tracking the drug resistant pathogens with relevance to the One Health approach. Besides he has produced a far above average number of publications as first author since the start of his PhD.

Mohammed Elbediwi studied veterinary medicine in his bachelor at the Suez Canal University, Egypt, and graduated with a master's degree in food microbiology at the Cairo University in Egypt. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in molecular microbiology at the Zhejiang University in China.

“Since I am really interested in the antimicrobial resistance evolution research scope, the main goal for the application in the Rising Star fellowship was the motivation to work with Prof. Dr. Jens Rolff, who earns a prestige reputation across the field globally. After I contacted with Prof. Jens, I found that my research interest align nicely with research activity on with his laboratory and at the same time leaving enough scope for developpment of an independent research program. We prepared the proposal together and I really appreciated his suggestive comments that comprehensively improved the proposal.

During my research career, I have involved in different research environments (Egypt, China and USA), but I always hear about the supportive environment in Germany, which is crystal clear in department of BCP in FU Berlin. I was surprised by the friendliness and the willingness to help from my colleagues upon my arrival, which had a good effect on my adaptation to my new role. I was also amazed at the cohesion between the different groups, whether they were pursuing the same or different research directions, which positively affects the knowledge dissemination. Finally, I look forward to gaining a nice experience and also improving my research profile quality at Freie Universität Berlin.”