News Archive
Departmental Research Retreat
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology held a Research Retreat at the Crown Mill on October 28th. The research retreat was a chance to see the depth of research in the Department and included talks and poster presentations from most people in the Department.
The poster prize was jointly awarded to Estelle Baker (a PhD student in Professor Vernon Ward’s lab) and Simon Kelly (a PhD student in Professor Clive Ronson’s lab).
Estelle’s poster was entitled “Inherent structural disorder and multimerisation of the norovirus NS1-2 protein” while Simon’s poster was entitled “Requirement for EPS in the Mesorhizobium-Lotus symbiosis”.
The People’s Choice poster prize was awarded to Manal Aziz (a PhD student jointly supervised by Chemistry and Dr Heather Brooks ). Manal’s poster was entitled “Antimicrobial properties of chitosan/dextran based hydrogels for surgical use”.
Medical teaching award for Dr Heather Brooks
Congratulations to Dr Heather Brooks who received a best lecturer award for her teaching in both the 2nd year and 3rd year medicine courses at the recent Otago University Medical Students’ Association (OUMSA) Teaching Excellence Awards.
Amphibacillus cookii - a new bacterial species named after Professor Greg Cook
A new bacterial species has been named after our very own Greg Cook.
Amphibacillus cookii (cook'i.i. N.L. gen. masc. n. cookii, named in honor of Gregory Cook, to recognize his contribution to the microbiology and bioenergetics of extremophiles) was first described in the article "Pugin B, Blamey JM, Baxter BK, Wiegel J. Amphibacillus cookii sp. nov., a facultatively aerobic, sporeforming, moderate halophilic, alkalithermotolerant bacterium from Great Salt Lake, Utah. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2011 Oct 28. [Epub ahead of print]" and if you would like to know more click here.
Professor Gerald Tannock elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Professor Gerald Tannock was one of twelve top New Zealand researchers elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand at the Annual General Meeting of the Society's Academy in Auckland yesterday (November 2nd).
Gerald is a world-leading authority on gastrointestinal microbes and their role in health and disease, who has pioneered the amalgamation of traditional methods with DNA-based technologies.
For further information on Gerald's reseach, view his webpage
For the University of Otago media release, click here
For the Royal Society of New Zealand media release, click here