Page 12 - The Indian EYE 061226

Op-Ed JUNE 12, 2026 | The Indian Eye 12

Using AI to Fight

Antimicrobial Resistance

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is partnering with India to explore how

AI-driven tools can detect and combat antimicrobial resistance faster.

SPAN MAGAZINE
U.S. Embassy New Delhi
n the fight against antimicrobial
resistance, the greatest danger is
Ioften what cannot be seen right
away. A patient arrives with an infec-
tion, and a doctor begins treatment
based on the most likely cause. But
the bacteria may already be resistant
to the standard drugs being prescribed.
Confirming that resistance can take
days, and while doctors wait for lab
results, the infection may continue
to spread faster than the system de-
signed to stop it.
That quiet uncertainty is what
makes antimicrobial resistance, or
AMR, so dangerous. It is not just an-
other disease. It weakens the founda-
tions of modern medicine itself, mak-
ing ordinary infections harder to treat. AI’s role in the AMR response does not stop at diagnosis. AI is also being used to monitor infection trends, process whole genome sequencing
It is also the kind of challenge that data, and even accelerate the search for new antibiotics (Photo: SPAN)
demands better tools, faster answers,
and stronger partnerships. of global public health threats. For That is part of what makes AMR what it is susceptible to.”
That is where Dr. Ashley Sty-
czynski comes in. An infectious dis- years, health experts often described such a pressing issue for both India That diagnostic gap is one reason
HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis as the
ease physician and medical officer at “big three” because of the number of and the United States. It is a health the United States is investing so heavi-
challenge, but also a systems chal-
ly in AI-driven approaches. AI is help-
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control lives they claimed each year. AMR lenge—one that affects preparedness, ing scientists and clinicians move from
and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Styczyns- now belongs in the same category. “In economic resilience, and public confi- delayed confirmation toward earlier
ki is in India through the Embassy Sci- the past few years, as we’ve been able dence in care. prediction. “In the diagnostic space,
ence Fellows Program to examine how to gather more robust data, we’ve AI, especially machine learning, is be-
the United States can support region- come to appreciate that antimicrobial RACE TO DIAGNOSE FASTER ing used to do things like look at indi-
al efforts to assess and address AMR. resistance is also on par, causing more One of the hardest things about vidual bacterial cells and understand
Her work sits at the intersection of than a million deaths per year,” ex- AMR is that it does not announce it- their behavior on exposure to antibi-
global health, health security, and plains Dr. Styczynski. self clearly. A resistant infection can otics very early, to predict resistance,”
innovation, especially as the United But AMR is not only a threat look, at first, like any other infection. Dr. Styczynski says. “So instead of
States advances artificial intelligence because of the number of deaths it The difference often becomes visible waiting days, you might be able to get
(AI) as a tool to detect, monitor, and causes directly. It is also dangerous only after laboratory testing, and that a result in minutes or hours.”
respond to drug-resistant infections because it erodes the medical tools process takes time. She also points to another prac-
more effectively. that many other forms of care depend When someone has a bacterial in- tical use of AI: helping clinicians de-
Dr. Styczynski’s role in India is to
identify gaps and local priorities, and on. “So much of what we do in mod- fection, laboratories typically need to cide whether antibiotics are needed at
ern medicine is dependent on being
all. “For example, AI can help identify
grow the organism and test it against a
where collaboration with the United able to have antibiotics that effectively range of antibiotics to confirm wheth- common characteristics of bacteria to
States can help make a difference. Na- prevent and treat infections,” she says. er the bacterium is resistant. “This create diagnostics that can answer the
tional action plans are already in place, “This includes things like routine sur- typically takes several days, and in the question up front: is this viral or bacte-
but the need for faster diagnostics, geries, administering chemotherapy, meantime, you have a patient who may rial, and do I need to give an antibiotic
stronger surveillance, and scalable
technology solutions remains urgent. and managing HIV. All of these things not be receiving effective treatment,” or not?”
For a country like India, where both
depend on having effective antibiotics. says Dr. Styczynski. “This remains an
A GLOBAL PRIORITY If that goes away, then it really under- ongoing gap in addressing AMR: hav- scale and speed matter, such advances
The scale of antimicrobial resis- mines a huge portion of what we con- ing access to rapid diagnostics that can could make a meaningful difference.
tance has pushed it into the front rank sider essential health care.” tell you what you are dealing with and Continued on next page... >>

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