Dr Renee Ng, a microbiologist specialising in bacteriophage therapy – an alternative to antibiotics to fight antimicrobial resistance – will travel to the world’s premier conference on viruses, bringing new ideas, connections and expertise back to Perth.
Dr Ng - a post-doctoral researcher and BrightSpark WA Early Career Fellow at The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia - has been presented with an Aspire Award sponsored by Western Australia’s peak body for business events, Business Events Perth.
Business Events Perth’s Aspire Awards support local researchers, academics and professionals to attend an international business event in their discipline, to further their professional development.
Dr Ng has been leading the development of Australia’s largest bacteriophage or phage biobank and established a phage isolation and screening pipeline that has been adopted nationally and internationally.
She said phage therapy is being used to fight antimicrobial resistance, a growing global health threat highlighted by the World Health Organization.
“Phages are natural viruses that specifically target and kill bacteria, offering a promising solution to antimicrobial resistance, something that is a major concern for children, particularly those with chronic diseases,” Dr Ng said.
“The WA phage biobank will be instrumental in compassionate-use cases globally and places WA as a leader in phage therapy innovation.”
Dr Ng will use the funding to attend the Viruses of Microbes 2026 conference in Prague, the premier global event for the study of viruses that infect microbes – including bacteriophages.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat needs a global solution, so I’ll be using the Aspire Award to attend Viruses of Microbes 2026, where the conference theme aligns directly with my research focus,” Dr Ng said.
“I look forward to bringing new ideas, connections and expertise back to Perth.”