CONTACT

mmbalbin@ncsu.edu

Michelle Balbin

Fulbright Scholar, Master’s Student

• DVM, Central Luzon State University, Muñoz, Neuva Ecija | Philippines (2011)

Michelle Balbin is from the Philippines, where she received her DVM degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Central Luzon State University in Muñoz, Neuva Ecija. After graduating, she joined the Philippine Carabao Center as a researcher, and specialized in viral and bacterial infectious diseases in animals such as carabao, a type of water buffalo.

She became interested in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) after 2015, when a call for action by WHO triggered the launch of a national plan to combat drug resistance in the Philippines. Keen to learn molecular techniques such as whole genome sequencing, and improve infectious disease detection and reporting in her home country, Balbin joined Sid Thakur’s laboratory in August 2017 as a master’s student with a two-year Fulbright scholarship.

In the Thakur lab, she is investigating the presence of foodborne bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli in the environment, and characterizing AMR in each isolate using minimum inhibitory concentration tests and full genome sequencing analysis. In addition to her research, Balbin is developing a nanoparticle-based method of pathogen detection to improve AMR surveillance across different islands in the Philippines, and advance molecular research and diagnostics of infectious diseases.

COLLABORATORS

• Abhichart Krissanaprasit, Postdoctoral Research Scholar | Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NC State
• Thom LaBean, Professor | Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NC State 

PUBLICATIONS

Cabrera GFS, Balbin MM, Eugenio PJG, Zapanta CS, Monserate JJ, Salazar JR, Mingala SN. Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles reduced and stabilized by sodium glutamate and sodiumdodecyl sulfate. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2017 Mar; 484(4): 774-80 (Pubmed)

Ganareal TACS, Balbin MM, Monserate JJ, Salazar JR, Mingala CN. Gold nanoparticle-based probes for the colorimetric detection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis DNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2018 Feb; 496(3): 988-97 (Pubmed)

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