Dr Dina Coertzen from the Malaria Parasite Molecular Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology has been selected to participate in the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Young Scientist Program (YSP) at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 15 to 18 August 2019.

This meeting brings together early-career scientists from the IUBMB constituent countries to participate in oral and poster presentations and networking sessions with prominent scientists, and to further their scientific careers.

"Receiving a full travel scholarship to attend this meeting gives me the opportunity to share and exchange my scientific experiences, present my work to an international audience, meet internationally renowned professors and promote my scientific future and career," said an elated Dr Coertzen. 

She has also been selected to attend the 27th Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (FAOBMB) and 44th Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (MSBMB) conferences from 19 to 22 August, also in Kuala Lumpur. 

Dr Coertzen will be presenting her current research at the YSP and the 27th FAOBMB and 44th MSBMB conferences, whose focuses are on antimalarial drug discovery to identify novel drugs and drug targets against the most lethal form of the parasite responsible for malaria, Plasmodium falciparum. "More specifically, I’m interested in investigating drugs that not only target the human pathogenic stages but also the transmissible forms of the parasite between humans and mosquitos. Targeting the transmissible stages of the parasite is currently a high priority in the field of antimalarial drug discovery as a means to ultimately eliminate malaria," she explained.