Michael Kobina Danquah, a PhD student in the Bioengineering laboratory (BEL), supervised by Dr. Gareth M. Forde, was selected as the Victorian winner of the AusBiotech Student Excellence Awards. Michael was short listed for the award from a large number of high quality applications and was required to present his research in front of a panel of three judges. The award covered all expenses for Michael to display his work at the AusBiotech 2006 National Conference (in Sydney from 19-22 November 2006) as well as a year's complimentary student membership. The award was formally presented at the AusBiotech conference dinner.

Michael receiving the Victorian student excellence award

Michael with his award

Michael and other award winners

Michael is researching the optimisation of fed-batch bacterial fermentation for supercoiled plasmid DNA production coupled with monolithic purification for vaccination and gene therapy applications. Along with Dr. Forde, he has co-written two invention disclosures which are currently being considered for provisional patenting with Monash Commercial. Michael's research work is supported by the Victorian Endowment for Science Knowledge and Innovation (VESKI), a Monash University Faculty of Engineering Research Grant and a Monash University NSM Research Grant.