7 IHS PhD Candidate Secured Fellowship Position at NUS IHS PhD Candidate at 9th AMEA Symposium Fakhriedzwan Idris is a PhD in Biomedical Science candidate at the PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) under the Neuroinfectious Diseases group, supervised by Dr Suwarni Diah and Dr Siti Hanna as well as Dr Zainun Zaini from the Ministry of Health as his clinical laboratory supervisor. He is currently completing his PhD with a thesis titled ‘Establishment of In Vitro Blood-brain Barrier Models for the Study of Dengue Encephalitis’. In this study, he has successfully developed a murine in vitro blood-brain barrier model, which is subsequently used as an infection model to study the mechanisms of dengue neuropathogenesis. His research interests also include host-viral interaction, particularly the roles of viral glycosylation and glycans during cell infection by dengue virus. Upon the completion of his PhD, he will start his fellowship position at the National University of Singapore (NUS) as a research fellow under the Microbiology and Immunology team to study the factors involved in the in vitro and in vivo fitness and virulence of dengue virus. Dr Divya Thirumalai Rajam, a PhD candidate from IHS, went to the 9th Asian Medical Education Association (AMEA)Symposium cum Frontiers in Medical and Health Sciences Education 2017. The theme of the symposium was ‘Preparing Healthcare learners for a Changing World’ and was held at University of Hong Kong from 14th—16th December 2017. The AMEA is an institution-based association of the Asian medical schools, which was established in June 2001. The aims of the Association are to identify and recognize that medicine is globalized, to enhance the characteristic features and strengths of Asian medical education, to share information and experience about medical education, and to strengthen and promote good pedagogy and research on medical education. The AMEA strives to take a more proactive role in raising its profile as the leading association in medical education around the world and to promote inter-school and multidisciplinary collaborations. The conference was hosted by renowned speakers in medical education from all over the world. During the conference, Dr Divya was selected to present her e-poster presentations based on two abstracts titled ‘Living in International Campuses: An Integrated Review on Experiences of International Undergraduate Medical Students’ and ‘Outcomes of Internalization of Undergraduate Medical Educaton: An Integrated Review’, from which she was awarded ’Award of Merit’ for her poster presentation. She also attended a workshop on ‘Community-based Service Learning in Medical Education’, which coached participants in organizing feasible community program for prevailing health issues.
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