Welcome
to the Bacteriophage Biology & Therapeutics Special Interest Group (SIG) as
part of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM). Our goal for the SIG is
to promote Australian collaborative bacteriophage work through associations
with the ASM. However, we hope that this SIG can go beyond this.
During
my post-doctoral training in the USA, I was fortunate enough to be introduced
to a number of well-connected bacteriophage researchers. Through conferences
and aligned research interests, they had composed an informal network of
researchers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs, who were all interested and
invested in bacteriophage biology. This network was extremely valuable and
formative for my career. Through it, I was exposed to some brilliant science
and collaborations, and was given access to phage and host strains, invitations
to present my work at conferences, and job opportunities.
In
2016, I returned to Australia and joined Monash University, where I established
my own research lab to investigate the role and interaction of phages within
human cells and tissues. Although I still had connections with US collaborators
and researchers, I realised I did not know many phage researchers in Australia.
Over
the following year, myself and four other researchers, including Matt Payne (WA
Rep), Karen Weynberg (QLD Rep), Carola Venturini (NSW Rep) and Peter Speck (SA
Rep), proposed to establish a Bacteriophage SIG as part of the ASM to build a
similar collaborative network of researchers, clinicians, companies, and other
interested parties. I believe the Bacteriophage Biology & Therapeutics SIG
can be influential for Australian phage research in a number of ways:
- Foster collaboration between SIG members and interested parties. In my opinion, this is the greatest potential benefit of the
SIG. I hope it will lead to new collaborations, publications, joint-grant
applications, and other outputs between the SIG members.
- Promote Australian phage research on
both a national and international scale. The SIG will be involved
in the organisation of conference symposia and sessions both nationally
and internationally. Through this we aim to promote the bacteriophage
research and translational science originating from Australia.
- Distribute resources, methodologies, and strains between SIG
members. Phage research can be difficult and one
benefit of a network of researchers is the shared knowledge, strains,
methods, and resources. Since returning to Australia, a number of labs here
have kindly provided my group with phages, methods and other resources. I hope
the SIG can further share resources to foster the development of phage
research within Australia.
- Establish links with stakeholders in bacteriophage space. This includes connections with the ASM and the benefits it provides
SIG members. Additional links with biotechnology companies, entrepreneurs,
government officials, and clinicians are all incredibly important for the
translation of bacteriophage biology.
- Have an influential role on phage therapy within
Australia. We have an opportunity to
shape the way in which phage therapy is promoted and established within
Australia. This will require input from various stakeholders, education of
the general public, shared phage lysates for compassionate usage cases,
and collaborations between researchers and clinicians.
- Provide guidance and support for early career bacteriophage
researchers. Supporting the next
generation of phage researchers is incredibly important and the SIG has a
unique opportunity to support these individuals through seminar
invitations, collaborations, mentorship, and job opportunities.
In
order to better communicate with SIG members and other interested parties, we
have decided to set up this blog site - https://bacteriophagesig.blogspot.com/. Every three months, a different
member of the SIG will write a blog post on this site to update the members on
SIG activities and other associated bacteriophage work. This site will also be
used to promote bacteriophage conference sessions, job postings, and other SIG
events. If you would like to write a post, or have something to share with the
SIG, please contact myself or one of the SIG committee members.
Please
have a look through the site and the members section. I have included you all
on this list, as well as a brief summary of your research interests. If you
would like to make any changes to this content, or have other collaborators who
would be interested in joining, please let me know.
Finally,
we will be officially launching the Bacteriophage Biology & Therapeutics
SIG at this year’s ASM conference in Brisbane. We will be holding a SIG meeting
in the plenary hall on Wednesday 1-2pm, which you are all welcome to attend.
Here we will provide a brief update on the SIG and formally elect the convenor
and state representatives for a two-year term. You can find more information
here:
Sincerely,
Jeremy
Barr
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