Tues Mar 30 // Dr. Marie-Laurence Lemay // Département de microbiologie, infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal

Dr. Marie-Laurence Lemay
​Département de microbiologie, infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal
Fundamental and applied research in dairy microbiology: a phage scientist’s perspective

​As a graduate student in the lab of Prof. Sylvain Moineau, Canada Research Chair in Bacteriophages, I got to experience discovery-based research by studying phages infecting Lactococcus lactis, a workhorse of the dairy industry. As a microbiology specialist for Agropur, one of North America's leading dairy processors, I got to experience applied research in industry. In this seminar, I will share my experience in both settings, and I will discuss the advantages of academic-industrial partnerships by presenting an overview of a collaborative research effort spanning almost two decades to establish a phage monitoring program. By partnering with phage scientists, dairy industries can access specialized expertise to develop or optimize rational solutions to respond to phage problems. By partnering with dairy industries, phage scientists can access valuable samples to study phage population dynamics and fill knowledge gaps in our understanding of phage biology. In the end, fundamental and applied research are two sides of the same coin; it all comes down to creating new knowledge that can be applied to dairy microbiology and far beyond.