HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-03 | Microbiome-informed One Health strategies for safer livestock and reduced antimicrobial use

Project concept and objectives

We are seeking European research and industry partners to co-develop innovative, microbiome-informed approaches to improve livestock health, reduce zoonotic pathogen transmission and minimise antimicrobial use within a One Health framework.

Zoonotic foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pose significant challenges to livestock production, food safety and public health. Understanding the interactions between livestock microbiomes, pathogens and environmental microbial communities could support the development of more effective and sustainable disease prevention and microbial control strategies.

We are particularly interested in exploring how microbiome-informed approaches can be combined with innovative non-antibiotic antimicrobial technologies to improve microbial safety while preserving beneficial microbial communities.

Potential research activities include:

• Investigating relationships between livestock microbiomes, zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance.

• Developing and evaluating non-antibiotic antimicrobial interventions, including their effects on beneficial microbiomes.

• Assessing microbial contamination, biofilm formation and pathogen transmission in livestock production environments.

• Integrating microbiome analysis, microbiological monitoring and intervention validation under realistic farming conditions.

• Evaluating the effectiveness, sustainability and practical implementation of proposed interventions.

Expertise and potential contribution

At the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), through the Centre for Sustainable Agri-Food & Environment (SAFE), we offer expertise in food microbiology, foodborne pathogens, microbial biofilms, antimicrobial interventions and innovative approaches to microbial control.

Our research combines fundamental and applied food microbiology with the development and evaluation of novel antimicrobial strategies, including non-antibiotic approaches, with broader interests in antimicrobial resistance mitigation and One Health.

We could contribute to microbiological safety assessments, pathogen and biofilm studies, antimicrobial technology development and experimental validation, potentially leading relevant scientific work packages. These capabilities would complement partners specialising in livestock microbiomes, veterinary science and animal health.

Partners sought

We are particularly interested in collaborating with universities, research institutes, veterinary organisations, livestock producers and industry partners with expertise in:

• Livestock microbiomes, metagenomics and host–microbe interactions.

• Veterinary microbiology, animal health and welfare.

• Antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic pathogens and epidemiology.

• Sustainable livestock production and on-farm intervention studies.

• Bioinformatics, microbial monitoring and One Health approaches.

Partners with access to livestock production environments, microbiome characterisation facilities or opportunities for field-scale validation would be particularly valuable.

Collaboration opportunities

We welcome opportunities both to establish new multidisciplinary consortia and co-develop Horizon Europe proposals from an early stage, and to join existing consortia where our scientific expertise can add value.

The project concept remains open to further development with interested partners, with the shared objective of advancing microbiome-informed, sustainable approaches to livestock health, microbial safety and reduced antimicrobial dependence.