Biosciences PhD Student Wins Special Award from the International Society of Plant Molecular Farming

Ms. Pang Ee Leen stands out as one of the thirteen international awardees to receive a special award of £450 from the International Society of Plant Molecular Farming to attend the Plant-Based Vaccines, Antibodies and Biologics (PBVAB) conference, which to be held on 8-10th June in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Supervised by Dr. Sandy Loh Hwei San, Ee Leen’s project focuses at combating the pressing problem of dengue pandemics, with the hope to potentiate the development of a protective and cost-efficient vaccine. Her presentation entitles “A Hepatitis B Core-based Production of Plant Virus-like Particles as Dengue Vaccine Candidate”, is in fact an academic collaboration between UNMC and UK institutions, i.e. John Innes Centre and iQur Ltd.

PBVAB has been prestigiously credited as an international forum that attracts audience of relevant stakeholders to review current state of plant-made biopharmaceutics research. It is a valuable platform for individuals and industries to present new developments and paves way in bridging multinational collaborations. In addition to conference presentation, Ee Leen will have an opportunity to give a one-minute “elevator pitch” about her work at the reception hosted by the Society. Ee Leen hopes to acquire feedbacks from the international renowned experts to promote wider impact of research and ultimately contribute to the pipeline of dengue vaccine production. It is indeed a great stage for her to strive for recognition that complements to professional development.