He was awarded the prize for his poster entitled ‘Biofilm extracellular polysaccharides of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have dual roles as public and private goods’ at the Department’s annual research day.

Dr Irie is a Marie Curie Fellow and is currently studying the social evolution of bacterial biofilms - a community of bacteria that stick to each using polysaccharides. His poster presented experimental data to address the social roles of polysaccharides in biofilm communities.

Yashuhiko said: “It is an absolute honour to have won the best poster prize, particularly as it was chosen by some of my esteemed colleagues.”

“I hope it will help increase my visibility both within our University community and beyond. I am always looking for new collaborations and projects to help raise our University’s research to the next level.

“I hope the prize is one of my first steps towards my dream of a successful career as a biofilm specialist.”

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