Professor Simon Swift from the University of Auckland in New Zealand was invited to TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology of Nankai University for academic exchanges at 10 a.m. on September 19, 2023. He delivered a lecture titled “Two Stories about Pathogens: Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles and Biofilms in Infection”.
Outer membrane vesicles, released from the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, are natural extracellular vesicles with pathogen-associated molecular patterns. These vesicles are highly immunogenic and capable of activating the immune response of host cells. The Biofilm refers to an organized community of bacteria encapsulated by extracellular macromolecules and adhered to biotic or abiotic surfaces, which is highly resistant to antibiotics and host immune defense mechanisms. Professor Simon Swift's presentation centered on the topic of outer membrane vesicles and biofilms of pathogenic bacteria, and introduced the related achievements of the research group in recent years. He focused on how bacterial infections can be better understood by studying the emerging topic of host-pathogen interactions mediated by bacterial outer membrane vesicles. Afterwards, he discussed the issues of antibiotic resistance and biofilm infections, and illustrated how lactoferrin can be used to enhance the anti-infective effect of antibiotics.
After the report, Professor Simon Swift and Professor Wang Lei from TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology had an intensive discussion on related cooperation topics, and initially formulated a feasible experimental scheme for the next step. This visit has laid a sound foundation for the cooperation between our institute and the University of Auckland in the research of mechanism of biofilm formation in the host cells of uropathogenic Escherichia coli.
Simon Swift, male, holds a PhD in molecular microbiology from the University of Nottingham, UK. He worked as a Research Scientist at the University of Nottingham in the UK from 1993 to 2001, as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand from 2001 to 2016, and as an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand from 2005 to the present. He is mainly engaged in the research of microbial physiology, biochemistry and genetics, pathogenic mechanism and drug resistance mechanism of pathogens, and the application of microorganisms in biotechnology. He has published 25 papers in Biomicrofluidics, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Applied Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology and other journals in the past 5 years.
