Abstract: Urinary tract infection (UTI) of the bladder, cystitis, is one of the most common human infections. As well as producing mortal and morbid risks, debilitating symptoms and life-threatening complications, its treatment with antibiotics predisposes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which the WHO asserts is one of the severest global health threats because it renders antibiotics ineffective with wide ranging deleterious impacts.

To protect healthcare for our futures, the UK government has, metaphorically, “declared war” on AMR, producing a 5-year plan for its reduction, grants support to scientists and £1billion incentives to the pharmaceutical industry, collectively suggesting high-level, large-scale fear.

Battles between us and uropathogens are complex with both sides using diverse tactics. Bacterial abilities to develop AMR confers on them an enormous tactical advantage that risks challenging treatments now and undermining human healthcare. It has been deemed potentially apocalyptic. In a war that we cannot afford to lose, blind faith in the oral route of administration of antibiotics and pandering to tradition, convenience and case-by-ease cost for UTI treatment should be re-evaluated by a cross-section of our defensive scientists and medical experts.

The theme of this seminar is to present and discuss analysis of our current approaches to prevention and treatment of cystitis and discuss viable alternatives.

Biography: Professor Scott Glickman FRCS is co-founder and medical director of UroPharma. He is on a mission to bring direct-to-bladder therapeutics into mainstream healthcare in order to radically improve the treatment of bladder diseases and disorders, while transferring much of it from hospital to community and self-care in order to benefit patients, their healthcare providers and funders whether private or government. He has a broad range of expertise in community and specialist rehabilitation medicine services, healthcare technology invention and development, clinical research and education, and disability/rehabilitation charities. He remains clinically active supporting neurorehabilitation services after qualifying over 40 years ago. Professor Glickman is a surgically trained rehabilitation physician with extensive experience in the NHS and private healthcare sectors, mostly in neurorehabilitation (spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke, etc) with specialist interest in neuro-urology and intravesical therapeutics. He is a clinical researcher with 25 peer-reviewed research publications across a broad range of medical areas including neuro-urology, pharmacology, spasticity, tremor and sialorrhoea & authored 5 book chapters. Professor Glickman is a healthcare technology inventor (5 patents) and award winner. A former advisor and grant assessor (MS Society of GB & NI) former member of The Prince's Council grant assessor for healthcare technology (NIHR's i4i- 2007-2011 and 2022) and producer of the British Soc. Rehab Med's first undergraduate education curriculum.