IBRCC
IBRCC
HISTORY
History of IBRCC
The Biofilm Research Collaboration Center was founded in March 2022 as one of Indonesia's new Research Collaboration Centers. This collaboration is founded on the idea that biofilm-related infections have not received adequate attention. According to National Institutes of Health data, biofilms are a primary facilitator of chronic infections and antibiotic resistance, contributing significantly to the occurrence of hospital healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Biofilms are thought to cause approximately 65-80% of illnesses in the human body. Antibiotics are less effective at eliminating biofilm, a type of bacterial defense. Thus, pathogenic bacteria in biofilm conditions might pose major health risks and contribute to the high rate of antibiotic resistance.
One of the current strategies for biofilm control involves tailoring the target compound or drug to the stage of biofilm formation. For instance, efforts to prevent early-stage biofilm formation can be made using inhibitor agents that prevent bacterial attachment to the material's surface. It is anticipated that this inhibitor compound can disrupt or damage the bacteria's sensing ability towards the surface intended for colonization. Biofilm research is rapidly expanding, particularly in medicine and health. This rush in study is motivated not just by biofilms' enormous negative impact on health, but also by the economic ramifications they bring.
Knowledge regarding the mechanisms of biofilm formation, the extracellular matrix of biofilms, compounds capable of eradicating biofilm cells, and degrading the extracellular matrix of biofilms remains very limited. This presents a unique challenge for researchers and the medical community. The absence of a database on biofilm-related infectious diseases and compounds with potential antibiofilm properties from the biodiversity of Indonesia is a distinct problem that needs to be addressed.Several researchers from Gadjah Mada University have a track record in utilizing biodiversity to combat biofilms. Thus far, biofilm research has been conducted in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary manner, both at the national and international levels. Various institutions involved in this research hail from different countries:
1. Netherlands (University of Groningen, ACTA - a joint venture of Vrije Universiteit and University of Amsterdam, University of Leiden, Erasmus University Rotterdam)
2. Belgium (KU Leuven)
3. France (University of Poitiers, INSERM, CNRS, University of Nantes)
4. Germany (University of Wuerzburg, Heinrich Heine University)
In addition to supervising doctoral (S3) and master's (S2) students, both domestically and through joint supervision with international collaborators, collaboration has been established involving researchers from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and international research partner institutions. The outcomes of this supervision include S2 and S3 students with expertise in biofilm research, publication of scientific papers in highly reputable international journals, and national journals indexed in Scopus. Furthermore, we have experience hosting research internships for S2 students from the University of Poitiers, France. Several research funding sources related to biofilm have been successfully secured, such as the Science and Technology Doctoral Grant from the Ministry of Health, Competency Grants, Basic Research Grants, and Outstanding Research Grants from the Ministry of Research and Technology/National Research and Innovation Agency (Kemenristek DIKTI). Additionally, funding has been received from the European Union through the Erasmus+ grant to facilitate staff and S3 student exchanges abroad (France and Netherlands).
The description above serves as the foundation for the proposing team to establish the Biofilm Research Collaboration Center, aligning with UGM's vision and mission to become a World-Class Research University and BRIN's vision and mission to enhance science and technology capabilities, research culture, and innovation creation by improving the quality of science and technology human resources. Through the Biofilm Research Collaboration Center, the diversity of Indonesia's biodiversity can be leveraged to address current local and global issues such as antibiotic resistance and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This initiative contributes to solving present challenges in alignment with the goals of advancing research culture and creating innovation.
Copyright © 2023 Pusat Kolaborasi Riset Biofilm | biofilm.id