Featured Member – Tim Mak
Tim Nam Mak is a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany. He holds a BSc (First Class Honours) in Biotechnology from Monash University Malaysia. He did a summer research project in 
2005/2006 at the Australian National University, Canberra, working on the cloning and protein expression of nematod specific genes in Caenorhabditis elegans. In his honours’ year in Monash University Malaysia, he worked with Associate Professor Song Keang Peng on the characterisation of a putative virulence factor from oral pathogen called Porphyromonas gingivalis, which contribute to severe periodontal diseases.
In his PhD project, Tim is working primarily on a controversial opportunistic bacterium named Propionibacterium acnes. He focuses on the host cell interaction associated with this bacterium as it remains unclear how a host responses towards an invasion by this bacterium. He is also interested in investigating the bacterium’s potential involvement in causing other diseases, such as acnes vulgaris, sarcoidosis and prostate related diseases.
Tim feels that Scientific Malaysian will serve an important hub for all Malaysian researchers to contribute and to improve scientific research in Malaysia.
Find out more about Tim by visiting his ScientificMalaysian profile at:
http://www.scientificmalaysian.com/members/timnam/profile/