Norwegian version of this page

Rafi's battle

He is passionate about combating one of the great public health challenges of our time – antimicrobial resistance. His drive stems from his childhood in India.

Published Mar. 18, 2025 12:30 PM - Last modified Oct. 24, 2025 9:19 AM

Rafi Ahmad is a professor of biotechnology at the University of Inland Norway (INN) in Hamar.

He leads several major international research projects aimed at solving the problem of antibiotics becoming less effective – often referred to as 'the silent pandemic'.

He realised early on how crucial timely treatment and the right medication at the right time were for saving lives.

Rafi studied pharmacy in India before moving to Exeter in England to pursue a master’s degree in bioinformatics. Eventually, he discovered that he wanted to become a researcher. Someone who could influence and drive development.

A doctor can treat a limited number of patients over a lifetime. Through research, one can impact billions of lives.

A smiling Rafi is looking at the camera and holding an Indian flag — He moved to Norway, first to Tromsø and its university, and later to Hamar and INN.

Today, he is an internationally recognised researcher in the field of biotechnology.

Rafi's office door — From the Biohouse in Hamar, he leads a research group and has played a key role in developing the biotechnology community at INN.

The UN has declared antimicrobial resistance as one of the five greatest threats to global public health.

Few places in the world have higher resistance levels than Rafi’s home country, India.

A girl is being examined by a doctor — It is particularly in areas of the world with high antibiotic use that resistance spreads.

X-ray photos of lungs — If resistant bacteria gain the upper hand, common infections such as pneumonia or urinary tract infections could become life-threatening.

This already causes many deaths around the world. Estimates vary between 1.3 and 5 million deaths annually. And the problem is expected to grow much larger in the coming years.

But what exactly is antimicrobial resistance?

We have a bacterial infection in the body.

We take antibiotics, which kill or inhibit most of the bacteria.

However, in the body, there are also some bacteria that are resistant, meaning they remain just as strong as before.

Without competition, they multiply and become stronger. Suddenly, they take over.

It is not surprising that this happens: the risk of resistance has been known as long as antibiotics have existed.

Black/white portrait of Alexander Fleming — *It is not difficult to make microbes resistant to penicillin.* Alexander Fleming, the father of penicillin

We use a lot of antibiotics today, both in livestock and in medicine.

Too much.

The more we use, the greater the risk of resistance increases.

In countries like India, many cannot afford to see a doctor and instead go straight to the pharmacy to get antibiotics without a prescription, Rafi explains.

Rafi is looking at the lab door with a warning sign — *Antimicrobial resistance is a pandemic.*

But now, Rafi Ahmad and his colleagues at the biotechnology lab in Hamar are working on a solution that aims to reduce antibiotic use and make it more targeted.

They want to shorten the time it takes from when a blood or urine sample is taken to when you get the results showing what type of infection it is.

Rafi behind a biological danger poster — Behind this door, they are developing a so-called rapid diagnostic test that should be able to provide results within a few hours.

As it stands today, it takes several days from when a blood sample arrives at the laboratory until the results are ready. In the meantime, patients are often given antibiotics without the doctor knowing which type or dosage is correct.

Misuse of antibiotics costs many lives, and overuse leads to more resistance.

When a blood sample arrives at the laboratory, the bacteria are cultured so that they multiply and become easier to analyse.

The method the researchers are testing simplifies the culturing process. Blood samples only need to stay in this incubator for two to three hours. With this method, urine samples do not need to be incubated at all.

close up of lab gear — With machine learning and the self-developed software Voyager...

Rafi is looking at results on his computer

...they get results within seconds about the type of bacteria involved.

The development of the method has come a long way, and it is currently being tested at hospitals in Germany.

The researchers hope to begin trials at hospitals in Norway and England by 2025. After that, they plan to bring the method to India within a year or two.

Rafi jis working on tests in the lab — *I dream that the technology we develop will make a difference for the people who need it. Research has no meaning until it reaches the people.*

The biotechnology community at the University of Inland Norway is still young and developing. Since Rafi started here seven years ago, the number of employees has more than doubled.

At the lab, there are professors, postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, and students at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

There are many advantages to being part of a relatively small environment. It is efficient to have such a short distance between students, staff, and management.