I am a first-year PhD student at Manchester Fungal Infection Group under the supervision of Dr. Margherita Bertuzzi. I am an awardee of “Beasiswa Pendidikan Indonesia (BPI-LPDP)” Scholarship from Indonesia government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology).

I was born and raised in Indonesia. I finished my medical doctor education from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. After five years of medical practice while also being involved in research, I then proceed to do my residency training in clinical microbiology from the same university. My research background in general, is about clinical microbiology and infectious diseases, focusing more on fungal infections, especially on surveillance of fungal MDRO and antifungal stewardship.

My project aims to identify commonalities or divergences in the mechanism and role of airway epithelial cells responses against Aspergillus fumigatus and other major respiratory pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Cryptococcus neoformans. I will be utilising CRISPR-based lentiviral libraries for genome-wide knockout screens to characterise the role of ~1,000 human genes in mediating antifungal phagocytic activities of airway epithelial cells, followed by an exploration of the host drivers that contribute to antimicrobial immunity in the context of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Cryptococcus neoformans infections.

This research will identify the molecular underpinnings of the epithelial processes that support effective microbial clearance, supplying vital knowledge and resources for mechanistic investigations on how these processes can be consistently exploited or distorted by various respiratory pathogens.

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