Winner of the WiEST Development Grant 2025
Dr Casandra Tan, Research Fellow in SCELSE’s Biofilms & Health cluster, has been awarded the Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (WiEST) Development Grant 2025 by NTU! This competitive grant supports women researchers with funding for professional development activities, including international conferences and training.

“I am thrilled and grateful to be one of the recipients of the WiEST Development Grant 2025. This grant will directly enable me to attend the upcoming ETOX 2025 conference in Spain, which is in line with my research. I am looking forward to presenting my work, receiving valuable feedback, and making new friends,” said Dr Tan.

Prof Alain Filloux, SCELSE Centre Director and Research Director of the Biofilms & Health cluster, shared his pride in Casandra’s achievement and her contributions to understanding microbial interactions through the type VI secretion system (T6SS)—a bacterial secretion system that acts as a “molecular syringe” to deliver effector proteins directly into neighbouring cells, whether they are other bacteria or eukaryotic cells. This delivery mechanism plays a key role in inter-bacterial competition, pathogenesis, and host interactions.