Six postdoctoral researchers from Kazakhstan have completed their ten-month Biotechnology Research Internship Programme at the University of Westminster, organised by members of the Sustainable Biotechnology Research Group and the Genome Engineering Laboratory in the School of Life Sciences.
The research fellows, Dr Aknur Turgumbayeva, Dr Assem Kalykova, Dr Elmira Kartbayeva, Dr Gulnaz Seitimova, Dr Gulzira Vassilina and Dr Serzhan Mombekov, were funded by the Centre for International Programmes in the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan under their prestigious Bolashaq Scholarship scheme.
During this ten-month period, they had the opportunity to attend masterclasses and workshops around the themes of green innovation, the research process, bioengineering, genome engineering and investigation of human disease vulnerabilities. They actively participated and collaborated in the Gene Editors of the Future programme and worked with students across all levels at the University.
They also conducted individual research projects with various members of the School of Life Sciences. Dr Serzhan Mombekov and Dr Assem Kalykova worked with Westminster’s Leader of the Genome Engineering Laboratory and co-organiser of the programme Dr Kalpana Surendranath and Reader in Biomedical Sciences Dr John Murphy to investigate the impact of environmental exposures on carcinogenesis, observing Bisphenol A’s effect on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-engineered cancer models. Supervised by Senior Lecturer in Ethnopharmacology and medicinal plant science Dr Anthony Booker, Dr Elmira Kartbayeva worked on quality assessment and method development for the analysis of medicinal plants. Dr Aknur Turgumbayeva investigated the production of biobased, biodegradable polymers from bacteria for medical applications in collaboration with Senior Lecturer and Co-Course Leader in Biological Sciences BSc Honours Dr Pooja Basnett. Dr Gulzira Vassilina investigated biofuel (bioethanol) production from waste feedstock using genetically modified thermophilic bacteria. This was in collaboration with Visiting Scientist at Westminster Dr Muhammad Javed, Visiting Lecturer Dr Namdar Bhaghaei-Yazdi and Dr Godfrey Kyazze, a Reader in Bioprocess Technology, Co-Leader of the Sustainable Biotechnology Research Group and Course Leader of Applied Biotechnology MSc. Finally, Dr Gulnaz Seitimova partnered with emeritus Professor in Biotechnology Professor Taj Keshavarz and Dr Kyazze to work on the fermentative production of lovastatin, an anti-cholesterol drug.
Dr Kyazze, who co-organised the programme, said: “I fully enjoyed hosting the researchers and I am looking forward to further collaborating with them, not just in research, but also in teaching. I also want to thank the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for providing the funding and Global Conferences Ltd for advertising the internship programme in Kazakhstan.”
Dr Surendranath added: “The dedication and commitment of the research scholars have been truly inspiring. We are excited about the potential future collaborations and advancements in teaching and research that can emerge from this experience.”
This Internship Programme directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being, 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and 13: Climate Action. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
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