Winners of our Conference Attendance Grants

 
 

2023

David Mayo Muñoz

I had the chance to attend the “Viruses of Microbes” conference, which convenes an international community of researchers that investigate virus/phage-host interactions. The conference took place in Tbilisi (Georgia), which houses the institute that has pioneered the study of phages and phage therapy, and where phage therapy is used as a routine medical practice. This conference was an ideal opportunity to present my PhD work on the first evidence of RNA-based anti-CRISPRs that protect phages against bacterial CRISPR immunity. I exchanged ideas with top experts in the area and established connections that can lead to future collaborations between the University of Otago and international labs. As a final-year PhD student, I benefited from meeting researchers and leaders of other groups to find opportunities for my next career stage, ideally a postdoc position. I want to thank NZSBMB for their support to attend this conference.

2022

ELSIE DUNKLEY

Thanks to a generous grant from NZSBMB, I was lucky to attend the ComBio22 Conference in Melbourne. This was an excellent and vast meeting; there were 8 concurrent streams which occasionally meant some tough decisions on which talks to attend. It was a pleasure to hear from plenaries Prof Jennifer Doudna and Prof Leann Tilley, as well as Jordan Compton, Dr Chelsea Vickers, and A/Prof Wayne Patrick from my own department. I was overjoyed to be awarded a poster prize for my own work.

JORDAN COMPTON

I am so grateful to the NZSBMB for providing me with a Conference Attendance Grant to attend ComBio 2022 in Melbourne. It was fantastic to hear about all the research being done across so many different labs and disciplines within Australia and NZ. I learnt so much, and was able to connect with many new people. I also had the opportunity to present my PhD work for the first time, which was a great experience. Thank you again to the NZSBMB for providing me with this opportunity.

LIAM EADE

I was very privileged to attend ComBio2022 with the support of the NZSBMB. It was my first time visiting Melbourne and also my first in-person international conference (as FAOBMB was unfortunately moved online). While I still can't agree with the 8:30 start, it was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience where I got to see some very cool science. I also had the opportunity to present my research to a packed room (if you squint at the photo you might see me at the lectern), attend the AGM (in a considerably less packed room), and meet a lot of NZSBMB members.