A Global Biofilm Network
The annual international Eurobiofilms conference is an opportunity for scientists, clinicians and industry partners with an interest in biofilm-related problems to exchange novel information on clinical, environmental and basic elements of microbial biofilms. At Eurobiofilms 2019 in Glasgow, NBIC were delighted to meet Karishma Kaushik and Snehal Kadam, two biofilm researchers from India. Karishma said,
“During the conference, we had the opportunity to interact with the Directors of NBIC, and researchers from several of their partner universities. NBIC’s holistic vision for biofilm research, collaborative approach, with industry partnerships in particular, as well as commitment to foster future scientific leaders, was both insightful and inspiring!”
Snehal Kadam and Dr Karishma Kaushik at Eurobiofilms 2019 in Glasgow
Returning from the meeting Karishma and Snehal attempted to connect with biofilm researchers in India via Twitter and email, and the response from the community was tremendous. As a result, they established the India Biofilms Society (IBS) – a platform for biofilm researchers in India with a focus on establishing opportunities for scientific exchange, identifying gaps and partners for collaborations, and mentorship for students and doctoral researchers in the country.
NBIC and IBS set up a series of three 1-hour joint online symposiums, as a platform for researchers in both communities to present and discuss their work. There was a large academic and industry audience from both countries, watching talks as diverse as, “The Development and Testing of 3D Printed Biofilm Bioreactors for Biotransformation Reaction” to “Denture Biofilms”, creating many opportunities for collaborations.
The symposium series blossomed into mutual grant applications and plans for a series of collaborative sessions with our other international partners, Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering and Singapore National Biofilm Consortium, to further share capabilities and opportunities.
Snehal has now moved to the UK to study for her PhD at the University of Hull, an NBIC partner institution, and continues to now be an active part of both NBIC and IBS. Despite the global challenges of 2020 and 2021, the global network of connected researchers continues to establish itself, and NBIC is proud to be able to help continue to build the community.