Research Visit Grant recipients

Sylviane was awarded a grant to support her research visit to the Cardiovascular Infection Research Group led by Professor Steve Kerrigan in RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, Ireland. The aim of this visit was to investigate the interactions between Streptococcus gordonii and human vascular endothelium.

"Acquiring these experiences are beneficial as they are always attractive in terms of collaboration and recruitment."

In 2019, Matt was awarded a grant to support his visit to the University of Bath where he investigated novel antimicrobial targets in Burkholderia pseudomallei using X-ray crystallography.

"This research visit has enabled me to improve my technical abilities in the functional and structural characterisation of proteins. This work was not possible at my main institution and so allowed me to gather data otherwise unobtainable. By working in a new lab, I was able to be adaptable and also had the opportunity to learn from research staff with expertise in areas new to me. This visit also allowed me to present my research to a group of academics at a new institution; gaining valuable feedback in the process."

Image credit: Matt Scurlock

Mayri was awarded a grant to visit the Centre INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier in Canada, where she spent two months investigating possible synergy between biosurfactants and antibiotics. Whist in Canada, Mayri recorded a podcast with the Society to document her collaboration.

"This collaboration was a great opportunity to build a a joint research between both groups the INRS adnd LJMU. Our results demonstrated synergy antibiotics and biosurfactants against different strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The study of synergy from different compounds it will have significative clinical benefits when performed along with carefully designed pharmacokinetic studies. With the knowledge acquired, I will extend the research to the use of others biosurfactants in combination with other antibiotics for a better outcome, using a wider range of microorganisms as a target. The collaboration with Professor Eric Déziel, will continue with the aim of publishing our research together".

Image credit: Mayri Diaz

In 2018 Ethan was awarded funds to visit the Morgan Lab at the Philips Institute for Oral Health Research, Virginia, USA where he learnt about the complex culture system for primary oral keratinocytes.

"The research visit I took part in will benefit me in several ways. Firstly, I got to experience the research environment in a different lab and in particular in the US, which has undoubtedly helped in in the postdoc position I am currently in. Secondly, the collaboration has resulted in one co-authored publication already, and has resulted in the development of an ongoing collaboration between my host and my PhD lab, which will strengthen several of the projects I had been a part of during my PhD. Finally, my host has become a great supporter of my career and will continue to be an incredible source of mentorship and advice for the future."

Image credit: Ethan Morgan

In 2018, James was awarde funds to support his month long visit to the London Centre for Nanotechnology which enabled him to observe DNA topology by atomic force microscopy.

"For my own development this visit has allowed me to learn a technique from the leader of the field. Without the state-of-the-art equipment and assistance of Dr Pyne and her colleagues it would not be possible to get the level of detail necessary to make the determination of DNA topology possible. In the next year this visit will contribute to the development of my PhD thesis, and to publication of these results."

Image credit: James Provan

In 2018, Poppy was awarded funds to visit Makerere University, Uganda in order to establish connections with Ugandan institutes studying tsetse- and tick-borne diseases.

"The research visit grant allowed me to begin an ongoing partnership between Makerere University and the University of Salford. We are in the process of writing a publication from the field work I carried out in Uganda, which has also contributed to my PhD thesis. I have also recently started a job at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, partially thanks to my experience working in Uganda."

Image credit: iStock/Claudio Ventrella

Fatima was awarded funds to visit the MRC Centre of Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, where she was able to use zebrafish to characterise substrates of the Staphylococcus aureus Type VII protein secretion system in vivo.

“This research visit provided me with a fantastic opportunity to develop new techniques not available within my institution and expand my scientific network. I established a zebrafish model to study the role of the S. aureus T7SS in vivo – the data generated from this resulted in the publication of a high impact paper from my PhD research. Following on from my visit, I set up a facility within my department to allow different researchers to work with zebrafish larvae as an infection model for opportunistic pathogens. Currently, there is also an ongoing collaboration between the Palmer and Mostowy groups, which we expect will lead to exciting new developments within the field.”

Image credit: Fatima Ulhuq