Medical Biotechnology, is a field that Yeo Ee Lin finds interesting as it benefits humans’ life where pharmaceutical and diagnostic products using living cells and cell materials are being innovated. At the 30th Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar (IBS), she presented her final year project entitled ‘Assessment of the Toxicity of Binary Mixture and Sequential Exposure of Cu and Cd on Pseudokirchnierella subcapitata’ and was one of the top 10 winners of ‘Outstanding Performance in the category of Poster Presentation’. Ee Lin was one of three International Medical University’s Medical Biotechnology students, from the MB116 cohort who was granted the opportunity to present their research findings at the IBS. The other two students were Avinash a/l Rames and Au Yong Siew Chann. 
Avinash presented the research findings of his final year project orally at the seminar. “The conference gave me an insight into the various types of research that are being focused in Malaysia. In addition, IBS also provided a platform to meet new people that were like-minded”. Avinash mentioned that he has great passion in the field of virology and the final year research project he undertook permitted him to cover new grounds in virology. He described himself as a microbiology nerd and as such having a penchant to only focus on bacteria. However, his final year project was about giant viruses and as such it was something new for him. On why he chose to pursue the medical biotechnology programme, Avinash said “At that point of time, I had a dream to do something along the research track yet I didn’t really know how to get there. After studying the medical biotechnology curriculum in detail, I found that this programme is a good base for me to start out my journey to achieve my dream”. 
Another Medical Biotechnology student, Au Yong Siew Chann recalled “3 years ago, I was clueless as to which undergraduate programme I would like to pursue after completing my pre-university studies. Upon reading about biotechnology, I was drawn to the opportunities the field has to offer. I was grateful to have made the huge step of joining the Medical Biotechnology programme at IMU. Throughout the programme I was given a lot of opportunities to challenge and improve myself.” The Final Year Project she chose was in the area of environmental toxicology. It has increased her interest and enhanced her laboratory skills. She was excited to be given the opportunity to do an oral presentation at the 30th IBS. It has not only served as a platform to challenge herself, it was also an eye opener to various interesting and unique topics of other aspects of biotechnological research at other institutions.
Congratulations to Avinash a/l Rames, Au Yong Siew Chann and Yeo Ee Lin!
| About 30th Intervarsity Biochemistry Seminar (IBS) |
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| The 30th IBS was held on 4 May 2019 at the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus. The objective of the seminar is to inspire young potential scientists of Malaysia in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to present their final year research projects and exchange ideas with others. |
Written by and photos credits: Avinash a/l Rames, Au Yong Siew Chann and Yeo Ee Lin
