PhD student Busayo Ajuwon reports on attending the International Hepatitis B Virus Conference, supported by the Baume travel scholarship.

Supported by the prestigious Baume Travelling Scholarship, I attended the 36th International Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Meeting, held September 2022 in Paris, France.

Whilst at the conference, I attended many inspiring keynote lectures on a wide variety of research areas within the HBV research space. There were several presentations of innovative HBV data where the research could be applied to my own work, including vivid discussions on novel technologies and model systems to track disease progression and inform optimal clinical management strategies.

I presented a poster at the conference entitled “The development of machine learning algorithm for early detection of viral hepatitis B infection in Nigerian patients”. This research will be one of the papers included in my PhD and aims to develop a machine learning clinical decision support system that uses routine pathology markers to accurately predict a patient HBV infection status in real-time. This provides a platform to optimise the quality of life for HBV patients in vulnerable populations, by empowering them to seek early and appropriate care. Delivering this poster presentation gave me an opportunity to discuss my work with leading experts in HBV research and other conference participants, including corporate delegates.

Attending the 2022 International HBV Meeting was an important opportunity for me to participate in the exchange of ideas and progress a potential research publication. The travel also provided excellent networking opportunities for me to begin to build future research collaborations and partnerships in the area of infectious disease control and global health.

It was indeed an honour to receive the Baume Travelling Scholarship, and I share this recognition with my supervisory panel, chaired by Associate Professor Brett Lidbury, whose support of me has been instrumental in enabling me to achieve this milestone. I thank NCEPH and the Scholarships Committee for facilitating the scholarship and supporting my development.