FABIans joined young researchers from several countries for the South African Society of Bioinformatics Student Council (SASBi-SC) Online Student Symposium from 4-6 August. Nearly 60 researchers from Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Switzerland and Uganda took part in the virtual symposium with presentations highlighting the application of Bioinformatics across various research fields. Founded in 2014, the SASBi-SC aims to promote excellence in the teaching and learning of Bioinformatics, as well as exploring the application of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in addressing challenges in society. 

FABIans contributed two oral presentations and a project overview to the 30 presentations at the online symposium. MSc student Alicia Fick opened the symposium with her presentation titled “Putative avocado Rgene expression in Phytophthoraroot rot resistant and susceptible avocado rootstock.” Ph.D. candidate Minette Havengawas the runner-up for the Best Oral Presentation award for her presentation titled “Reproductive biology of a globally important Eucalyptus foliar pathogen”. MSc candidate Vinolia Danki presented a project overview titled “Using GWAS approach to identify genomic regions associated with laccase production in Ceratocystis albifundus”. Dr Janneke Aylward, Dr Lieschen de Vos, Tshiamo Phakalatsane, Jane Ramaswe, Prof. Emma Steenkamp and Dr Magriet van der Nest also attended the online symposium.