Increasing awareness of AMR at New Scientist Live 2025: the UK’s biggest science festival!

Miriam Onwunle, UKHSA,

Karina Micah, UKHSA,

Vaishnavi Sundaresan, EPSRC Digital Health Hub for AMR

This year, members of the Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) team at UKHSA have worked closely with the EPSRC Digital Health Hub for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) to translate the “Pledges” page of the Antibiotic Guardian website into five additional languages: Romanian, Polish, Urdu, Punjabi, and Mandarin. This collaborative project builds on previous translation efforts with WHO Europe and other partners. The new initiative supports the UKHSA’s health inequalities agenda by making vital information on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) more accessible to diverse communities across the UK. The translated content will help empower non-English-speaking communities and international students to engage with AMR awareness and antibiotic stewardship, thereby reducing language barriers and improving health literacy.

This October, members of the UKHSA AMS team were invited to attend the New Scientist live as guests. The New Scientist Live is an educational and enlightening festival that showcases latest breakthroughs, innovations, and discoveries in science. This year the festival took place from 18-20 October at the Excel London and featured over 90 exhibitors and welcomed 70+ speakers across five stages. A few exhibitors were present at the event to raise public awareness on the topic of AMR. These include the EPSRC Digital Health Hub AMR and AMR Research Group led by Middlesex University.

At the joint EPSRC Digital Health Hub for AMR and UKHSA stand, visitors were invited to explore “AMR in everyday life” through a large interactive city mural showing where resistant microbes can exist across human, animal, and environmental settings. The stand also featured plush toy replicas of common resistant bacteria, such as E. coli and MRSA, which visitors could place on the mural to show where they thought bacteria might be found – these sparked conversations about how AMR spreads and what actions can help prevent it.

Visitors also enjoyed hands-on activities such as ‘Petri Dish Detectives’, where they learned how microbiologists identify bacteria based on colony morphology, and ‘Top Trumps: AMR Edition’, designed to introduce the concept of different bacterial species and their resistance levels. A highlight of the stand was the appearance of Andi Biotic, the mascot of the UKHSA’s campaign. The mascot proved a huge hit with visitors, especially children and families.

Further, the stand also featured information about the Antibiotic Guardian campaign, enabling attendees to pledge actions that support responsible antibiotic use. Over the course of the weekend, the Hub helped to recruit around 100 new Antibiotic Guardians.

“It was incredible to witness the sheer breadth of people that visited our stand. We had conversations school children, GPs, primary school teachers, retired scientists, vets and so many more. Every visitor was really eager to learn about AMR and what they could do to help,” said Vaish Sundaresan, Communications Manager at the EPSRC Digital Health Hub for AMR.

“The activities acted as fantastic conversation starters. Once people realised how AMR connects to everyday settings like farms, rivers, hospitals, and even pets, they were keen to know more. We also found the Antibiotic Guardian pledge was the perfect way to round off conversations, showing people that there are things they can do to help conserve antibiotics. The process of selecting a pledge made each interaction personal and meaningful.

“Andi Biotic brought real energy and joy to the stand,” Vaish added. “It was wonderful to see young people engaging with science in such a positive way – posing for photos, asking questions, and walking away with a clearer understanding of why using antibiotics responsibly matters.”

As part of undergraduate and postgraduate microbiology research at Middlesex University, were asked by undergraduate Biomedical Science students to submit charcoal swabs from our person or accessories. We submitted swabs taken from of our shoe and from our phone which would be grown at Middlesex University research laboratories to understand the bacteria that are present on and around us daily.

Additionally, at the Middlesex University stand, students from the Biosciences department organized a competition for who could build the molecular structure of Penicillin G using a traditional ball and stick model kit in the shortest amount of time. Although challenging, this activity proved to be a highly engaging way to understand the relationship between bonds and atoms.

“As members of the AMS team at UKHSA attending this event gave us the opportunity to learn about the importance of knowledge mobilisation and the impact of misinformation in science. In particular, we enjoyed seeing key scientific concepts such as the ‘identification of bacteria based on their morphology’ translated into an engaging and fun learning activity for attendees. Speaking with a scientific researcher working in the study of Biofilms and their uses, we understood the difficulty in breaking down complex information to non-scientific audience and how misinformation can be easily disseminated where there is a gap in knowledge. Thus, this highlighted the importance of providing these audiences with correct information on antimicrobials. Furthermore, the presence of local schools and lay members show the importance of widening participation and the need to spark curiosity around science in the next generation and reach those who would not normally engage with science.” Overall, the New Scientist Live 2025 provided an invaluable opportunity to hear from brilliant leaders in the field of science, technology and innovation and a chance for members of the public to engage with science in a relevant and fun way.