Two students of Biological Sciences, awarded in an international competition on awareness in the use of antibiotics
Beatriz Martín and Roberto Monllor, students of the Research Master in Molecular, Cellular and Genetic Biology at the University of Valencia, have made the best informative video in the competition The do something challenge, promoted by the Small World Initiative project. It is an international initiative to promote the vocation for scientific research among young people of different educational levels in the search for new antibiotics.
20 de february de 2018
Monllor and Martín are graduates in Biotechnology and Biology, respectively, and are currently doing their final master's work in the Plant Bacteriology laboratory (BACPLANT) directed by Elena G. Biosca, from the Department of Microbiology and Ecology. The jury has selected their work for its drama and creativity.
Both students are part of the Spanish network of the Small World Initiative (SWI) project, which emerged at Yale University in the United States of America (USA) in 2012, and which at the University of Valencia is coordinated by the professor of Faculty of Biological Sciences Sergi Maicas.
The Do Something About Antibiotics Challenge has been promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) in the US, in addition to the Spanish Society of Microbiology. The aim is to make young people aware of the proliferation of the use of antibiotics that end up generating bacterial resistance to these medicines, a serious problem that the World Health Organization (WHO) has already warned about.
The prize will be awarded during the annual congference of the Teaching and Dissemination of Microbiology (DDM) group of the Spanish Society of Microbiology (SEM), on July 18 in Madrid.
The SWI Valencia project is being carried out in parallel with other centres in the metropolitan area of the city, coordinated by teachers from the Department of Microbiology of Valencia (at IES Campanar, Comarcal, Sant Vicent Ferrer, Sorolla, Malilla, Benicalap, El Pilar, San José de Calasanz and Salesianos-San Juan Bosco schools). Administration and services staff from the department, and teaching staff from other departments of the University of Valencia also participate in the project.
The SWI@València project is part of the CApSA program of the University of Valencia and the consortium of Valencian universities UVApS. The SWI initiative has the endorsement of the Microbiology Teaching and Dissemination Group of the SEM and the National Antibiotic Resistance Plan of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).
Link to the video: http://ir.uv.es/ZX8xhRK
Project blog: http://swi.blogs.uv.es