For the second year in a row, a Faculty of Science and Technology lecturer has snapped up an award at the Global Biotechnology Conference 2021.
Oh, and coincidentally, both winners are senior lecturers who have nearly identical names !
This time, School of Biological Science senior lecturer Ms Hemalatha Murugaiah won the Best Young Research Forum Presentation award at the 2nd edition of the conference.
Last year, fellow School of Biological Science senior lecturer Dr Hema Ramachandran was named Best Speaker of the Conference.
Ms Hemalatha’s winning research was titled “Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Streptomyces sp. and Evaluation of its Antimicrobial Property.” She competed against participants from as far as India, Israel and Brazil.
Her research may sound confusing to the uninitiated, but in her own words, here’s what it’s all about.
“The overuse and misuse of antibiotics lead to the emergence of antibiotics resistance bacteria, also known as superbugs,” she said.
“A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.”
“Therefore, my research aims to discover the potential use of silver nanoparticles as an alternative to antibiotics, by exploring the mechanism that silver nanoparticles pose to inhibit the growth of bacteria.”
Ms Hemalatha added that the research also aims to formulate nanobactericidal agents for effective treatment of bacterial infection.
We’re proud to see some work on silver resulting in a gold-standard achievement. Congratulations to Ms Hemalatha and the Faculty of Science and Technology once again!
