Marwan Osman
Education: PhD ’15, Lille University
Cornell Adviser: Kevin Cummings (VET)
External Partner: Khaled El Omari (Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon)
Theme: Advancing One Health
The Emerging Threat of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacterales in Refugee Camps
Marwan is a 2022 Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellow. He is a medical microbiologist and molecular epidemiologist focused on infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), evidence-based medicine, and One Health intervention. Due to the inappropriate use of antibiotics, multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections are increasingly reported in both clinical and non-clinical settings in Lebanon, including Syrian refugee camps. These infections have driven the overuse of last-resort antibiotics, which led to the emergence of recalcitrant MDR bacteria, making otherwise uncomplicated infections life-threatening.
Marwan’s research will help stakeholders better understand the dynamics that drive infections and AMR, improve conditions to mitigate transmission of infectious diseases, implement surveillance systems for high-priority bacteria, promote appropriate use of antimicrobials, and strengthen capacities to tackle AMR in the human, animal, and ecosystem levels, with special emphasis on vulnerable populations and their environment.
Importantly, the outcome and solutions delivered in this project are scalable, beyond addressing AMR in refugees only in Lebanon, and will provide sustainable intervention such as educational material that will be readily available to stakeholders globally.
Marwan will collaborate with Kevin Cummings (VET), Kathryn Fiorella (VET), Issmat I. Kassem (University of Georgia), and Khaled El Omari (the external partner Organization “Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon”).