Aleksandra Miłobędzka has started her short research visit at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Porto at the Centre for biotechnology and fine chemistry (CBQF). Aleksandra will stay there for over three months to do research under the supervision of prof. Célia M. Manaia.
The main purpose of her stay is the developments in the monitoring of the antibiotic resistance and associated genetic elements in environmental samples.
The planned outcome is to optimize the protocol for the investigation of particular mobile genetic elements in activated sludge using qPCR.
What is your main research interest in general?
My main research interest is within microbial dynamics in wastewater treatment plants. In my short scientific career, I managed to collaborate with many great teams from various biological areas. I am a Post-Doc mentored by professor Pavel Jenicek and I collaborate with assoc. professor Jan Bartacek in Anaerobic BioTechnology Group, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague.
What are you doing regarding ARG, ARB?
My research is focused on antimicrobial resistance in wastewater treatment plants using microscoping imaging of free DNA in activated sludge and molecular techniques quantifying antimicrobial resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants.
I believe that each one of us has the right to know about risk connected to the usage of antibiotics and the threat that those contaminates create for the whole environment. Being university employee does not only mean doing research, but also sharing the results with broad public. To do that we need to create the right communication, understandable for the non-academic sector. In Norway, society is already involved in the process and monitoring. Together with Odd-Gunnar Wikmark from genøk, we came with initiative, within EEA and NORWAY GRANTS 2014-2021 and FUND FOR BILATERAL RELATIONS, to bring Norwegian experience to VSCHT.