Travel story: Bihong Zhang

Bihong Zhang from the Robinson Research Institute travelled to China in June to visit to Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, and attend the American Society for Reproductive Immunology Conference in Shanghai.

Bihong presented on “miR-155 is required for functionally competent regulatory T cells”.

This is what Bihong had to say about her experience.

What was a highlight of the travel?

I believe the lab visit to the Centre of Reproductive Medicine was the highlight of my travel.

Did you attend any workshops, labs, research facilities or attend any meetings associated with your travel?

I went to the Centre of Reproductive Medicine in the second affiliated hospital of Zhejiang University for a lab visit. The head of the centre was a visiting scholar to Robertson lab, and now this lab visit has further extended our relationship. I gave a seminar about my PhD work and discussed some questions from an immunological perspective with those clinicians. I believe it was a great chance to share ideas about basic science. More importantly, it provides the possibility to build collaborations in the future so that we can have access to clinical samples.

Did you meet any researchers or collaborators of significance? Why are they important to your work?

I met Prof. Gil Mor from Yale University and he gave a talk about inflammation and implantation. He discussed the evolutionary need for inflammation during implantation and the role of endometrial stroma in promoting the inflammatory process necessary for trophoblast migration. Since my work mainly focuses on immune tolerance and anti-inflammation in peri-implantation period, his talk has further extended my thinking and understanding about this biological process.

How will the experience support you and your research going forward?

I met many junior post-docs and also PhD candidates at this conference, and I also had the chance introduce myself to some established researchers. I believe this conference has provided a great opportunity for me to build networks with researchers from mainland China and other countries.

What was the most exciting thing you learned/experienced whilst traveling?

I was one of the best poster presentation award winners and received $500 cash prize.

What was the most interesting or unexpected moment of your travel?

I met up with PhD candidate, Sivanjah Indumathy at this conference who I had first met in 2016. We have been friends since 2016, but haven’t seen each other. This conference provided the chance for us to communicate face to face. We have updated each other our progress in research and also personal life.