Since 1995, Laxminarayan has worked to improve the understanding of antibiotic resistance as a problem of managing a shared global resource. His work encompasses extensive peer-reviewed research, public outreach, and direct engagement across Asia and Africa. Through his prolific research, and active public outreach (including a widely viewed TED talk) he has played a central role in bringing the issue of drug resistance to the attention of leaders and policymakers worldwide and to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. Laxminarayan served on the President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s antimicrobial resistance working group and is a voting member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance. He is series editor of the Disease Control Priorities for Developing Countries, 3rd edition. In 2019, he received the the Birla Institute of Technology and Science's Distinguished Alumnus Award.