Antimicrobial resistance and the role of vaccines

> Stanley Falkow (Fig. 1) dedicated his life’s work to the study of bacteria and infectious disease. He was a leader in the discovery of the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and among the first to recognize and raise the alarm about the problem of multidrug resistance. The articles of this Special Feature on Antimicrobial Resistance and the Role of Vaccines are dedicated to his memory (Box 1). Fig. 1. Stanley Falkow, January 24, 1934–May 5, 2018, a pioneer in the fight to understand and address AMR. Image courtesy of Manuel R. Amieva (photographer). Box 1 #### Dedication This Special Feature on Antimicrobial Resistance and the Role of Vaccines is dedicated to the memory of microbiologist Stanley Falkow. Professor Falkow was a pioneer in understanding how bacteria cause disease and discovered how antibiotic resistance spreads among bacteria. In 1964, Falkow was the first to physically isolate a distinct band of DNA comprising the episome (plasmid) with the genetic material coding for antibiotic resistance in a cesium chloride gradient. As early as 1975, he wrote a book entitled Infectious Multiple Drug Resistance (17) and noted that while “we owe to chemotherapy [antibiotics] the debt of reducing the high mortality rate of many bacterial infections [and to hygiene and vaccines the debt of preventing them], in helping to solve some of the problems of infectious diseases, chemotherapy created some problems of its own.” The “problems” Falkow refers to were, of course, the multidrug-resistant bacterial strains generated as a natural consequence of the drugs’ use. Falkow received numerous honors in recognition of his work, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1984, the Royal Society in Britain in 2007, and presentation of the National Medal of Science in 2014. Stanley Falkow died at his home in Portola Valley, California, on May 5, 2018, at the age of 84. … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: rino.r.rappuoli{at}gsk.com. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1