On Tuesday, 25 July 2023, Faculty of Biology UGM held Public Lectures and Training activities with speakers Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed and Prof. Uwe Truyen of The Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig, Germany. The activity was held in the Upper Meeting Room, Building A Floor 3, Faculty of Biology and was attended by participants from students to lecturers from the Faculty of Biology UGM.
The event began with an opening by the moderator, Tyas Ikhsan Hikmawan, M.Sc., Ph.D. Prof. Uwe Truyen then started the presentation. He explained the profile of University of Leipzig in general and their curriculum offered, especially at the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health. Prof. Truyen also outlined various ongoing collaborative research projects in collaboration with researchers around the world.
Dr. Ahmed then gave a public lecture entitled “Coming Together to Strengthen Global One Health”. He explained the importance of collaboration and research continuity that can provide real benefits. Leipzig itself has collaborated with various universities in the world, especially on the African continent, he calls it the Triangular Collaboration. Collaboration with Indonesia, especially Universitas Gadjah Mada and Faculty of Biology is also a great opportunity to further explore potential research collaborations that can be beneficial in the future.
In his explanation regarding One Health, Dr. Ahmed also mentioned the WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP programs, namely The One Health Joint Plan of Action which was created to tackle and prevent pandemics and achieve sustainable health. The realization of Global One Health also requires various collaborations in the form of capacity building, translating science into an official regulation for public health and increasing Triangular Collaboration, involving various parties, researchers from various parts of the world to solve world health problems.
Dr. Ahmed then explained about the Mobile Suitcase Lab, a tool package that allows laboratory work to be done in the field. The tool aims to minimize limitations in research so that samples can be processed in a shorter span of time. This explanation is packaged in the Novel Isothermal Amplification Training. During the training the SwiftX Nucleid Acid Kit was used and practical work was carried out on the extraction preparation to amplification which can be carried out in a more efficient time.
The Visit of Dr. Ahmed and Prof. Truyen to the Faculty of Biology UGM is a form of collaboration with the aim of increasing research and education quality. It is hoped that this collaboration can continue and produce research works that are useful for education in Indonesia and the wider community.