On July 13-18 Davit Lazviashvili, Senior Laboratory Assistant, G. Eliava Institute, Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, participated in an international microbiology congress “FEMS Micro 2025” to present the results of his Master’s thesis: “Study of biofilm degrading ability of bacteriophages on antibiotic-resistant and biofilm-forming S.aureus strains isolated in Georgia” in Milan, Italy.

During the conference Davit had many informal meetings and discussions with young researchers and senior scientists working on the phage-host interactions, microbial biotechnology, use of microbes to address environmental challenges. That was his first time attending such a large-scale international congress. He gained valuable feedback on his research from international specialists in microbiology, broadened his understanding of current global trends in antimicrobial resistance, increased visibility of research conducted in Georgia on bacteriophages and antibiotic resistance.

Particularly insightful for Mr. Lazviashvili was the talk by Thomas Kremer (UMR 9190 MARBEC, Montpellier, France) titled "Potentially harmful culturable bacteria and their antibiotic resistance on macroplastic debris in a sewage-contaminated lagoon from South-West Madagascar" and another notable session was the lecture by Dinesh Subedi (Monash University, Clayton, Australia) titled "ENTELLI-02: Standardized front-line phage product for nosocomial Enterobacter cloacae complex infections". The trip was sponsored by the International Science and Technology Center.