Awarded to young researchers who have demonstrated outstanding abilities and have promising professional careers, the Larry Beauchat Young Researcher Award, for its 2019 edition, was granted to Dr. Andrea Moreno Switt, researcher from the Milenio Nucleus for Collaborative Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (MICROB-R) and professor at the School of Veterinarian Medicine from Andrés Bello University.
The award, presented by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), recognises excellence in the field of microbiology and food safety, and it’s the first time it goes to a researcher from Latin America.
Dr. Moreno is alternate director of the Milenio Nucleus MICROB-R since last year, where they do research on antimicrobial resistance in all its perspectives, including resistant bacteria in foods. It’s also highlighted her participation in the Panel of Resistance on Foods from WHO/FAO, among other milestones that have been the reason for the award.
What does this award mean for your career as researcher?
IAFP is the most important association in the field of food safety. This young researcher award is so competitive and for the first time it’s granted to a researcher out of North America. For my career it’s very relevant, because it gives exhibition to the research I do in Chile for peers in the world. The award will help me make new connections with the academy, as well as the industry and entities responsible for food safety.
IAFP is very strict on its process to select the winners and, for me being awarded this year, it’s a recognition that in my laboratory we’re doing things right, especially for the competition with other nominated researchers, who have funding for infrastructure and an environment that supports research, a reality that’s very different in Chile.
From your career, What milestones would you highlight to be the reason for your award?
In my opinion, the reason for this award is research projects, the training for advanced human capital, training for producers and the role of public policies.
In my laboratory we have several financed projects, like FONDECYT and FONDEF, where we are using very innovative approaches on understanding and controlling pathongens in foods. Also, we’re producing publications of our data that is very relevant at a global level, such as the first listeria genomes in Latin America. In terms of training advanced human capital, I’m training doctorate, masters and undergraduate students, who I hope they will become future leaders in food safety.
Finally, since I started my work at UNAB, I’ve been working on communicating progress in the discipline to food producers, that’s why we’ve made several courses and seminars.
How much developed is the field of research on microbiology and food safety in Chile?
In Chile there are many opportunities in which it’s necessary to do research on food safety. Despite some improvents being developed, there’s still a lot to make progress on and, in some aspects, we’re still behind in comparison to developed countries. In Chile we produce many types of food and their safety is very relevant for communities and exports.