As a Microbiology Scientist at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) laboratory, Susy’s work involves the detection, identification and analysis of microroganisms that cause infections.

What do you do and why does it matter?

I work as a Micro­bi­ol­o­gy Sci­en­tist. My work involves the detec­tion, iden­ti­fi­ca­tion and analy­sis of micro­ro­gan­isms that cause infec­tions. We help under­stand how microbes impact our envi­ron­ment, influ­ence dis­ease pro­gres­sion and shape med­ical treatments.

The work we do in the lab­o­ra­to­ry focus­es on sus­cep­ti­bil­i­ty test­ing and deter­min­ing which antibi­otics of anti­fun­gal agents are most effec­tive against spe­cif­ic pathogens.

Micro­bi­ol­o­gy facil­i­tates safe and effec­tive health­care by guid­ing appro­pri­ate treatment,and improv­ing patient out­comes. It also has a role in out­break response and pub­lic health pro­tec­tion, and our experts were piv­otal to the NSW response dur­ing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tell us about your sci­en­tif­ic career path and what inspired you to work in pathology?

I always found Micro­bi­ol­o­gy fas­ci­nat­ing. Unlike many oth­er dis­ci­plines, it remains a high­ly hands-on field, which I enjoy. There are a lot of sit­u­a­tions where you must have crit­i­cal think­ing skills and prob­lem solve to ensure good qual­i­ty results.

Recent­ly I’ve been com­plet­ing my fel­low­ship with the RCPA Fac­ul­ty of Sci­ence, which has opened a lot of new oppor­tu­nites. Through this expe­ri­ence, I’ve had the chance to vis­it oth­er labs, become involved in inter­est­ing research projects and met a lot of new and inter­est­ing people.

A proud moment or inter­est­ing case?

One of my proud­est and chal­leng­ing expe­ri­ences has been work­ing on a research project incor­po­rat­ing AI for iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of fun­gi. It’s a proof-of-con­cept pilot study that could clas­si­fy fun­gi based on microscopy and cul­ture images and our results have been very promis­ing. In the future, I think there will be a lot more machine learn­ing and deep learn­ing incor­po­rat­ed into dif­fer­ent aspects of Microbiology.

What do you like to do to unwind out­side of work?

I like to read espe­cial­ly sci­ence fic­tion. I’ve recent­ly got­ten into audio­books espe­cial­ly when I’m dri­ving home from work.

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