Northumbria successfully hosts its second annual Viruses of Microbes-UK (VoM-UK) Conference

This event was hosted by Northumbria's Microbiome Exploration Peak of Research Excellence
Our VOM-UK events are designed to support the development of postgraduate and early careers researchers, offering interaction with group leads and networking with peers.

On the 25th-26th January 2024 Northumbria hosted its second annual Viruses of Microbes-UK (VoM-UK) Conference, in association with the Microbial Exploration Peak of Research Excellence.  Read more about this popular UK-wide event at Northumbria University. 

Viruses of Microbes UK (VoM-UK) is the UK-based-affiliation of the International Society for the Viruses of Microorganisms (ISVM), which hosts an international biannual scientific conference series, dedicated to the advancement of the fields of viruses of microorganisms. 

VoM-UK launched in-person at Northumbria in 2022. This annual conference is an opportunity for researchers working on viruses or bacteriophages infecting microbes to discuss their research.  

This conference is directed at early careers researchers including PhD students, Postdoctoral Research Associates (PDRAs) and Fellows to present their findings to a subject specific community, through 2 days of oral presentations, round table discussions and networking with peers, academic leads, industrial sponsors and societies. 

This year, 125 attendees from more than 40 research institutions spanning the UK from Exeter to Aberdeen, including the first international delegates, attended the event in the Great Hall.  

The day before the conference began, 24th January, there was an opportunity for 20 delegates to attend a hands-on phage genome assembly workshop, led by Dr Andrew Millard of the University of Leicester Centre for Phage Research.  This gave delegates a valuable opportunity to build their practical skillset handling the assembly and annotation of bacteriophage genomes directly from DNA sequencing. Those that attended the workshop found it extremely useful and they can transfer these skills to either their own research or to support and teach others. Delegates enjoyed the interactive format in a day where the computational resources and running was sponsored by the Cloud Infrastructure for Microbial Bioinformatics (CLIMB). 

Industrial sponsorship and societies 

The conference was sponsored and attended by learned societies and industrial sponsors.  Delegates took the opportunity to discuss potential publications and technologies with them. We had a broad group of sponsors that relate to research focused on the viruses of microbes. These included Pacific Biosciences and genomics, Qiagen and nucleic acid extraction and detection, Cellexus and large-scale phage enrichment in bioreactors, BMG LABTECH Ltd and plate readers and finally the society journal from Applied Microbiology International, Sustainable Microbiology with a current call for papers on the biology of bacteriophages guest edited by Professor Smith. 

VoM-UK 24 Conference – Day One 

The conference was opened with welcome remarks from Professor Darren Smith, the event organiser, and lead of the Microbiome Exploration Peak of Research Excellence at Northumbria University.   

Prof Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, President of the International Society for Viruses of Microorganisms (ISVM), followed with opening remarks and a short research talk on the innate immune responses to bacteriophage therapy. 

The conference was held in the Great Hall, Sutherland building, a fitting space for this meeting, driving interaction and collaboration. We heard 14 PhD students and 3 PDRAs give oral presentations on the first day of the conference on a wide range of topics from bacteriophage biology, their use as a therapy to those looking at anti-phage resistance mechanisms. The latter that helped us move seamlessly to our keynote speaker. 

The conference concluded day one with a keynote presentation by Professor George Salmond from the University of Cambridge. It was a pleasure to hear Professor Salmond speak around his research career in bacteriophages research and the philosophical message of toxin-antitoxin systems entitled “Serendipity and the triumph of death”. This title resonated through the second day of the conference in talks focusing on anti-phage defence systems.  

The evening also gave delegates an opportunity to view research posters in the foyer and side rooms. Which included a drinks reception within the Great Hall, offered yet another excellent opportunity for informal collaborations and networking. 

VoM-UK 24 Conference – Day Two 

On day two, 12 PDRA and Fellows presented oral talks on a wide range of topics some relating to the bacteriophages and host immune systems, meta-virome studies and bacteriophage use as treatment options. 

Professor Smith brought the conference to a close. He commented that the round table format allows the VoM-UK research community to discuss, in an informal setting, current and direction of bacteriophage biology research in the UK.  It was inspiring to see how much the attendees gained from the conference in terms of new collaborations and research ideas.  In future events, we intend to expand this to include the viruses of other microorganisms, not just bacteriophages.  

We would like to thank our events manager at Northumbria, sponsors, and all the delegates that attended the workshop and the conference for making VoM-UK 24 a huge success.  It was evident that VoM-UK has developed into a valued and well-regarded event, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year!