Global Health Tuesday: Local to Global Rise in Antimicrobial Resistance

The Global Health Institute’s January Global Health Tuesday Webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, January 27, 2026, from 9-10am CST. Dr. Daniel Shirley, Associate Professor (CHS), Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH), moderates a timely conversation on Local to Global Rise in Antimicrobial Resistance.

Shirley will lead the discussion with panelists Laurel Legenza, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, UW–Madison; François Franceschi, Head of Asset Evaluation and Development and Serious Bacterial Infections Project Leader, Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP); and Dr. Erta Kalanxhi, Director of Partnerships, One Health Trust.

Please register for the webinar with this link.

MEET THE MODERATOR:

Dr. Daniel Shirley is an Associate Professor (CHS) in the Division of Infectious Diseases within the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He serves as the Medical Director for Infection Prevention for UW Health and is involved in implementation and quality improvement activities related to Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship in low and middle income countries. As core faculty in the global health pathway within the Division of Infectious Diseases, he has worked with colleagues in Ethiopia and Rwanda on projects to combat antimicrobial resistance.

MEET THE PANELISTS:

Laurel Legenza is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at UW–Madison. Prior to her appointment, she was a postdoctoral fellow and director of Global Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. Legenza is interested in addressing health inequities locally and globally and is leading research projects in Wisconsin and South Africa connected to antimicrobial stewardship and strengthening health systems. She is also an active member of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the FIP Commission on Antimicrobial Resistance. Legenza is also a member of GHI’s Advisory Committee.

François Franceschi has worked at the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) since April 2018, and has over 30 years of experience in the area of antimicrobials. Prior to working with GARDP, François served as Program Officer for Therapeutics Development (antibacterial and antifungal) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, where he also served as NIAID’s liaison to CARB-X and as a member of its Scientific and Milestone Review Boards. From 2002 to 2012, he held various Director positions in Antibiotic R&D at Rib-X Pharmaceuticals (now Melinta Therapeutics) in New Haven, Connecticut. From 1990 until 2002 François was Principal Investigator at the Max Planck Institute for Molekulare Genetik in Berlin, Germany, where his research was devoted to the structure and function of ribosomes, especially in complex with antibiotics. His group at the MPI was a pivotal part of an international consortium headed by Ada Yonath, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009.

François earned a PhD in Chemistry at the Frei Universität Berlin, and his undergraduate degree in Biology at Universidad Simon Bolívar in Venezuela.

Erta Kalanxhi, PhD, is a Fellow and Director of Partnerships at One Health Trust. She leads research and policy initiatives focused on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and preventive interventions, with a particular emphasis on translating scientific evidence into actionable policy. She also provides technical expertise to the World Health Organization, supporting the assessment of national AMR strategies and identifying key successes and challenges in their implementation.

Before joining One Health Trust, Erta conducted translational cancer research at the Institute for Cancer Research at Oslo University Hospital and the Department of Oncology at Akershus University Hospital. She holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Oslo and an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.