The University was represented by the UST Bacteriophage Ecology, Aquaculture, Therapy, and Systematics (BEATS) Research Group during the biannual conference 鈥� Viruses of Microbes (VoM) 2024. The research conference was held at the Cairns Convention Center in Cairns, Queensland, Australia and was attended by a diverse audience from around the world.
With the theme 鈥淓xpanding Our Viral Frontiers,鈥� Prof. Dr. Donna May D. Papa, the head of the BEATS Research Group, and two of its members, Ms. Tracey Antaeus Gutierrez, MSc. and Ms. Christian Marie DC. Perez presented their respective papers that highlight their recent discoveries in phage research and applications.
The five-day conference was composed of various activities from a pre-workshop about communication for early career researchers, plenary meetings headed by renowned international phage scientists, oral and poster presentations, and a networking dinner where attendees talked about future grants and collaborations.
Phages are specific bacterial viruses that do not harm humans. Thus, they are now being studied and used as antibiotic alternatives to mitigate antibiotic resistance in different parts of the globe. This has also been the mission of UST-BEATS as they aim for the potential use of their promising phage collection in medical applications. With this, Dr. Papa was then given an opportunity to speak with Dr. Ruby Lin of The Westmead Institute for Medical Research and the head of Phage Australia for future collaborations.
Papa is a recipient of the 2023 Rosalind Franklin Society (RFS) Special Award in Science. Gutierrez is an alumnus of the UST Graduate School, while Perez is currently a graduate student pursuing Master of Science in Microbiology.
